The Gutters (2022), written and directed by the Lester brothers Isaiah and Yassir, being an afro-american, made me realize that the color community can make ridiculously dumb heated comedies too.
Shameik Moore plays the role of Walt, an idiotic guy who barely has clothes. Most of the time, he ends up messing up and so to make ends meet, he takes up a job as a bartender at a cheap rundown bowling alley owned by a haggard-looking Mozell (Jackee Harry now of 227 fame). Here he meets Skunk (D’Arcy Carden from The Good Place) a pro bowler trying to make it big but is a heavy drinker, who begins to realize that no matter what way Walt throws a ball underarm, across the room, or just randomly he can get a strike every single time.
The Building inspector played by Adam Brody informs Mozell of the gross amount of money he requires for the renovations of the ally. Walt and Skunk make an amazing duo, they hit the road and go on competitions to make it big in pro bowling. He dresses up as his preferred rapper and makes money from the Pornhub and Spicy Hot Miik endorsements and this gives Walt quite a chance in the industry. Walt on the other hand pays Skunk to show her what the legacy of a villainous chain-smoking bowling legend is actually like, who has gone into retirement but is woken up by the former role of Sarandon.
Overall, the Gutter reviews seem to agree on one thing: original Gutter doesn’t bear any originality. Certainly, it owes so much to Kingpin, and The Big Lebowski which are two bowling comedies directed by a set of Brothers, not to mention the mightily absurd underdog sports comedies/ SNL cast mate cars such as “Happy Gilmore” and “Hot Rod”. But I say this in all honesty, I could hardly contain my laughter during this film.
United States has always been fertile ground for absurd Anything Goes comedies which include the likes of Will Ferell and Adam McKay who have worked on a series of ridiculous, mostly ad-lib-based comedies during the late teens/early 2010’s. The dialogue moves with quick-fire, with characters saying and doing ridiculous things mostly cursing as well. But because this is a movie that was written as well as directed and acted by POC, the humor is in an urban center this time around.
In this kind of comedy, you would see a hotep preaching named Brother Candy a megaphone about why white people were born from monkeys (That’s why their nipples are pink!), a guy ghost-riding a pin that lands on garbage cans. Then there is Walt, when he seems to lose grip in bowling, which makes him think subversively: ‘These white folks don’t little red book to win.
The essence of Moore shines through as the voice behind Miles Morales in the animated “Spider-Man” films alongside Kendrick Lamar’s short about racial slurs in dreadlock raps. Walt, a foul-mouthed character who appears to be stupid and egotistical, is Ward’s portrayal of Moore’s character. Moore behaves like a lustful gendered id and wouldn’t let anything, even social disabilities or illiteracy hinder him from being on top, and in his case, the summit of social ranking happens to be threesomes. Carden on the other pairs alongside Moore while dressing in the hottest attire he has and portrays an acid tongue, he has the charade of a coach while being a capricious drunk himself.
The movie features many well-known personalities from Kim Fields as Walt’s mother who doesn’t know how to stop mooching to Jay Ellis who plays a cousin of Walt who is supposedly ugly. Paul Reiser also plays his role in the movie as a commentator who struggles to get along with Walt and Skunk. Other comedians like Yassir Lester also made guest appearances. There is also an interesting cameo by the famous Tony Baker where he requests Walt for money and a burgundy cummerbund.
The brother-whoops take almost all of the big gags and jokes. But the good news is that there are enough ghettofabulous gags to keep me in stitches way too deep.
People will like to criticize the movie and call it ‘The Gutter’ due to its bizarre content but I feel after the black community views it, they would criticize it too. But with a sense of envious worship for the content and the story.
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