Movie Review: The FP (2011, Blu-ray)

Directed by Brandon & Jason Trost

Starring Jason Trost, Lee Valmassy and Art Hsu

For far too long gamers have been shown no love or respect in the movies. Well, those days are now over thanks to the cold-blooded awesomeness of the Trost brothers and Image Entertainment’s new movie, The FP. A movie so bad that it is actually border-line genius.

In a dystopian future, a never-ending turf war rages. Two rival gangs feud for control of rural wasteland Frazier Park (The FP) in the deadly arena of competitive dance-fight video game “Beat-Beat Revelation.” After hometown hero BTRO is slain on the dance platform by thug leader L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy), His protege younger brother JTRO (Jason Trost) goes into isolation, chopping down trees in the mountains with a troupe of lumberjacks, vowing never to dance again. One year later The FP is in ruins, as the rival gang has not only taken control of the town but of its most precious resource, the liquor store, and is replacing the towns alcoholic life's-blood with meth and a wicked little pill known as Black Cock. Now JTRO must find the courage to return and restore order (as well as the liquor supply) in a ruthless battle for revenge that can only leave one man dancing.

It only took me about 10 minutes to be completely sold on this movie. Who would have ever thought someone would have the guts to create an entire film based on the video game Dance-Dance Revolution? It sounds like a preposterous waste of time but in fact it is a hilariously funny ‘Rocky Balboa” style parody that I just couldn't help but fall in love with. If you can picture a world where Vanilla Ice would be worshipped like a god then you can picture The FP. A land where foul-mouthed trash-talking and dancing are the preferred weapons of choice, and only in extreme circumstances are things like guns and slingshots used to solve problems.
 

Its so absurd from start to finish that it never really gave me a chance to realize how dumb it was. In retrospect I would have to say yes, this was a a stupid movie, but I would be robbing you if I didn't also say it was funny as hell. Jason Trost does a good job in the lead, he plays it straight and is a good springboard for all the other outrageous characters to play off of. Art Hsu is on point as the smack talking side-kick, Caitlyn Folley as Stacy, the trailer-trash whore and love interest of JTRO is great as well. But the star of this show for me was Lee Valmassy, who plays the villainous heavy, L Dubba E. He’s got my nomination for best supporting actor award, hands-down. Its been a long time since I’ve enjoyed watching a character that's made me laugh as much as his did.

This is one shit-talking, techno-music driven joyride that I did now want to end, and I really see this film gaining its own cult-status as word of mouth gets around. I’d even go so far as to call it the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” of the new millennium. Pure foul-mouthed goodness from start to finish and an indie gem if there ever was one.

The Bonus Features are pretty stacked as well, a short doc. The Making of THE FP, interviews with various crew members and a hilarious audio commentary with the Trost brothers. Also included in the box case is a collectors edition booklet with an intro by Rob Zombie and motion picture menus for both blu-ray and DVD.

I highly recommend it, this is one bad-ass bad movie.

7.5 out of 10