A parody of films that take place primarily in the
​so-called "Hood" of South Central Los Angeles.

COMEDY

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking
​Your Juice in the Hood (1996)

Directed by Paris Barclay

Written by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Phil Beauman

Starring Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Cherelle Jones, Chris Spencer, Darrel Heath, Lahmard J. Tate, Helen Martin,
Suli McCullough, Keenen Ivory Wayans

Spoof of 1991's Boyz n the Hood, 1992's South Central,
​1992's Juice, and 1993's Menace II Society, 

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Connor Eyzaguirre

December 5, 2019

6/10

If you haven't seen any "hood" films like Boyz n the Hood or Menace II Society, you shouldn't bother with this film. It's just gonna go over your head. I've seen at least one of these films, and I still found this parody to be way too over the top and extremely dated. But that's usually the case with the Wayans. It's either on the mark or misses it completely, and I think this one falls in the latter category. It's just not really that funny, for the most part. There's a few sight gags that made me chuckle, but mostly the comedy is too forced.

Shawn Wayans plays Ashtray, a teen who moved back to the Hood to live with his father (also a teenager). He meets up with his thug cousin Loc Dog (Marlon Wayans), a straight-up caricature who comes off more annoying than funny. Together, they get into various hijinks akin to comedy sketches (In Living Color, anyone?), and the story gets lost pretty damn quick. They jam so many "hood" jokes in between scenes that it's hard to keep track of what's going on. I can't tell if they're trying too hard or not trying hard enough.

Overall, Don't Be a Menace is a miss for me. I'm sure it has its dedicated cult fan base at this point, and I'm glad the repetitive "hood" subgenre was parodied by someone. I just wish the parody had been a little more subtle. More Airplane, less Scary Movie.