Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Blu-ray Movie Review

Grab a couple of 40s -- a gat in that caliber and the drink of that size -- and enjoy this hilarious parody.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 9, 2011

One out of every ten black males will be forced to sit through at least one "Growing Up in the Hood" movie in their lifetime. At least one out of five will be shot in the theater while watching the movie.

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is one of the finest parodies on the block, a laugh riot with characters as funny as its script, with situations that are as hilarious as many of the movies it ribs are serious. In fact, it might be one of the last great parodies before the genre was sideswiped by the influx of cinema's equivalent of cat vomit; movies like Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie suddenly and without mercy took over, dominated, and threatened to destroy the viable and once-proud cinematic territory that was home to pictures like Spaceballs and Airplane!. Created by the Wayans Brothers -- the same guys responsible for Scary Movie -- Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood takes on 'Hood movies and does so unmercifully, poking fun at the realities of life and the dangers of violence those films have portrayed to the tune of various awards, nominations, and critical and audience praise. Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood isn't concerned with message -- the other films have that covered -- but it does take those rather serious plot lines and turns them into something that's effortlessly fun and lighthearted, just the sort of balance the 'Hood genre needs.

Wasn't "Crazy Legs" also a G.I. Joe character?

Ashtray's (Shawn Wayans) mother has just dumped him on his father to ensure that he's raised up right (remember: there are no strong female role models in 'Hood movies). Ashtray's father (Lahmard J. Tate) is barely older than he is and likes to be put to bed after being tucked in to a good story straight out of a skin magazine. Ashtray and his cousin Loc Dog (Marlon Wayans) -- an avid drinker and gun collector -- wander around the 'hood, doing their best to do nothing. Ashtray meets the beautiful Dashiki (Tracey Cherelle Jones), a single mother of seven kids of various mixed nationalities who only wants a man who will accept her for how she is and take responsibility for his own actions (i.e. his child). As Ashtray and Loc Dog live out their lives in the 'hood, they encounter all sorts of racist tendencies from people of all skin colors; stand down hardened criminals; find themselves in the middle of deadly drive-by shootings; and encounter all sorts of demented, drugged-out, gang-banging folks who, like them, are just trying to make it in the 'hood.

The biggest challenge facing a movie like Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood isn't making people laugh -- the Wayans have that one covered for sure -- it's making people laugh without the humor destroying the foundation of the movies this one parodies, lessening the meaning and impact films like Boyz n the Hood have on audiences as painful, ultra-realistic tellings of what it's like to live in the real 'hood. Certainly, it's a far more delicate procedure than would be a parody of the fantastical or the obviously fictional, for it would seem far more easy to offend delicate sensibilities when making light of real problems, real violence, and reality-minded fictional characters. On the other side, a movie like this is all about perspective. It's not meant to degrade the movies it parodies, just have some fun with them. It's all about the context, and considering that Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is so excessively over the top it never seems to demean the hard-hitting material that have made "Growing Up in the 'Hood" movies a hallmark must-see sub-genre of cinema of the past few decades for all audiences, not just the African-American community.

There are three elements that are critical to making Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood an uproarious success. First is the aforementioned no-fear excessively over-the-top structure that sets it so far into parody land -- pacifiers and cell phone antennas as hair pieces, firearms as outfit accessories, cartoonish violence, grossly stereotyped characters -- that it can't be mistaken as anything but an honest and lighthearted wink-and-a-nod jab at the genre it works over. Second is a script that captures the essence of the movies it parodies and the smarts to paint the exaggerated picture necessary to make it work. Third is standout performances to tie it all together. Shawn and Marlon Wayans are simply brilliant in the movie; whether the most subtle body language or the most sensational facial expression, the most faux-tender moment or the most excessively goofy line delivery, the brothers just nail it in every scene. The film also does a fine job of throwing together a plot based largely around Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society. Still, it's the subtle touches rather than the broad scene-for-scene generalizations that make the movie; a dope-smoking grandma with an arthritic trigger finger, a gunpoint robbery of an old lady's walker and an ice cream truck; or the depiction of the white "man" who has his own method of keeping black folks down prove to be some of the smallest, yet most critically important and incessantly funny, parts of the film.

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray, despite coming it at a 1080i resolution. Colors are steadily vibrant throughout; green lawns and multicolored clothes stand out nicely and naturally. The palette is never too dim, and it's never unnaturally warm, either. Fine detail is Blu-ray average, too; facial and clothing textures can be quite good, and more complex elements like sidewalks, paved streets, and even Dashiki's braided hair are nicely revealing. The image retains a bit of grain that seems to fluctuate on occasion, but never does the image look as if its detailing and natural textures have been harshly scrubbed away. Unfortunately, viewers will have to contend with some dirt and white speckles, not to mention light banding and blocky backgrounds, but for the most part this a pleasant, easy-on-the-eyes transfer from Echo Bridge.

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood comes with a routine DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This presentation is more often than not structurally proficient, but the track doesn't often give it a whole lot to work with outside of a few splashes of increased activity and volume. The Rap tune that opens the movie is suitably crisp, spaced, and supported by a fair low end. Dialogue is generally steady, but there are a couple of instances where it goes unnecessarily tinny and hollow. The track makes good use of a few directional effects; gunfire and several scenes of general commotion and chaos naturally spread around the soundstage to good effect. The surround channels carry a fair share of the music and effects elements, helping to make this a solid, yet not at all extraordinary, soundtrack from Echo Bridge.

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood features a foursome of throwaway extras.

• Deleted Scene (1080p, 1:44): Interrogation.
• Wayans Brothers Behind the Scenes (1080p, 3:22): The comedic brothers discuss the picture's extended title, its humor, and its cast.
• Hood Movie Gumbo (1080p, 4:27): A piece that expands on the story behind film's title, with several parts recycled from the Behind the Scenes supplement. Cast and crew also discuss the story and the characters, intercut with numerous clips from the film.
• Music Video (1080p, 4:45): All the Things Your Man Won't Do.

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Big title, bigger laughs. Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is one of the absolute funniest Parodies to come around in quite some time. The script is great, the acting is superior, and the visual gags are outrageous. It all works in perfect harmony and never once deliberately or inadvertently lessens the meaning and impact of the films it has fun with. The gross stereotypes probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but those who can enjoy the movie and contextually accept it will be rewarded with one of the most purely entertaining and endlessly funny Comedies in some time. This might be Echo Bridge's finest Miramax title yet. Sporting quality video and audio to go along with some actual supplements and a low selling price, this one's a no-brainer. Hurry up and buy!