References amok

Comedy scholars have been debating the question for centuries: What makes things funny? Is it merely a well-sprung surprise? Does it have to involve someone else's sudden pain or embarrassment? Is it simply an appreciation for cleverness, as in wordplay?


With "Dance Flick," we now know definitively what comedy is not: It is not just a string of references to other movies.


Accomplished parodies such as "Airplane!" "Young Frankenstein" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" poke fun at an identifiable genre of movies. They build their jokes on the genre's conventions, making light of its unique cliches. The story that they tell is an exaggerated version of the genre's shared plotlines.


But the genre being parodied in "Dance Flick" is not well defined. What it wants us to think of as dance-film movies have little in common except young people sharing a love of dance. And that is why the story of "Dance Flick" is so ill-considered, when it has a story. The movies it is trying to skewer do not share enough traits to form a coherent story.


The main source for the plot, when it has a plot, is "Save the Last Dance," an effective and enjoyable little film from eight years ago that is neither notorious enough nor awful enough to deserve a parody. And that is the main problem with the film: It has no reason to exist.


The other main problem is that, with nothing particular to make fun of, the filmmakers resort to making an endless stream of references to other movies. Oh, look, that reference is to "Dreamgirls." Oh, goody, that reference is to "Hairspray." Oh, hurrah, that reference is to "Fame" and that one is to "Ray" and that one is to "High School Musical" and that one is to "Stomp the Yard" and that one is to "Superbad" and that one is to "Twilight," which has nothing to do with dance. It is as if the filmmakers stopped trying to be funny and just wanted to see how many references the audience could catch.


The writers are Keenan Ivory, Shawn, Marlon, Craig and Damien Dante Wayans. Their script comes across as if no joke that was ever proposed was discarded, perhaps because the writers did not want to hurt the feelings of anyone in the family. Maybe that is also why 10 actors named Wayans are in the cast, which probably sets some sort of record.


Twenty-one years ago, one permutation of Wayanses made the hilarious parody "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," and in 2000 a different permutation made "Scary Movie," which had more than its share of funny moments. But the family as a whole has lost what it once had that allowed it to make funny movies. It has lost its discipline and its focus. As a result, "Dance Flick" is a mess.