A clever spoof on the action films of the 1980’s, The FP is one of the more unique films I have seen in recent memory. Taking place some time in the future when turf wars are decided by one’s prowess at Beat Beat Revelation, here are 83 minutes that will make any normal moviegoer sit back and think “what the hell am I watching?!?” Said viewer will then be hard-pressed to forget what he’s watched.
The FP follows JTRO (Jason Trost), who watches his brother BTRO die during a particularly grueling BBR session with rival gang leader L Dubba E El (Lee Valmassy). Distressed over these events, JTRO flees into the outskirts of his home of Frazier Park (aka The FP) to go work as a log-cutter. But while JTRO has quit the life, the life hasn’t quit him as his fellow gang member KCDC (Art Hsu) brings him back into the fold. It turns out that L Dubba E El has taken over the FP’s liquor and will only sell it to certain people of his choosing, making the rest of the alcoholic population turn to drugs. This just can’t stand, so JTRO is taken under the wing of Beat Beat Revelation guru BLT (Nick Principe), who puts him through all sorts of montages to get him primed and ready to defeat L Dubba E El and take back the FP once and for all.
The FP is gleefully over-the-top, with the entire cast playing all of it completely straight. Beat Beat Revelation deciding gang wars? Sure. Blowjobs are used to show affection instead of kissing? Yeah, why not? But no one treats it like it’s ridiculous; it’s just every day life, making The FP‘s eccentricities all the more funny. These eccentricities are perfect for spoofing the movies we remember from the 80’s; the training montages that litter The FP are made a lot funnier by the sensibilities of the filmmakers and the setting around them. There’s nothing really different; JTRO is training for his big battle much like Rocky did to take down Ivan Drago, but the way they do it here is hilarious and clever. And the same goes for the rest of the movie; every time a cue from an 80’s movie comes up, they turn and make it their own, both spoofing those genres and creating something wholly unique at the same time.
Out of everything I have seen at SXSW so far, I have not been nearly this entertained or laughed this hard.
