Dance Flick parents guide

Dance Flick Parent Guide

While the drama teacher in this film implores his students to maintain "dignity" in their art, it is evident that dignity is the last thing this crude teen parody is concerned about.

Overall D

Be prepared for more crude comedy when the Wayans Brothers spoof the latest toe-tapping movies in their production Dance Flick. Planting its feet in the numbered steps of this genre, the plot follows Thomas Uncles (Damon Wayans, Jr.), a street dancer who pairs up with Megan White (Shoshana Bush) in order to win a dance competition.

Release date May 22, 2009

Violence C
Sexual Content C-
Profanity C-
Substance Use C-

Why is Dance Flick rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Dance Flick PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, and language.

Run Time: 83 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

The Wayans brothers (the creative team behind White Chicks and the Scary Movie franchise) seem to have found a formula that works for them. Putting their heads together, they churn out films that parody a parade of teen flicks and celebrity blunders along with moments from more classic works. Unfortunately these scripts also stoop to the lowest form of locker room humor, employing a tome of crude terms and depictions of anatomy, crass sexual jokes and gross out gags.

Building on the plot from Save the Last Dance, this film dumbs down the story of a young white girl named Megan (Shoshana Bush) who moves from the suburbs to a culturally diverse inner city neighborhood to live with her estranged father after her mother is killed in an accident. (Mom is repeatedly hit or run over by cars after she collides with a tanker trunk hauling gasoline.) At Musical High School, Megan meets an unwed mother (Essence Atkins) who stashes her baby in her locker during classes, and a driven anorexic ballet student (Christina Murphy) who is looking for a suitable dance partner for the school’s year end finale. She also meets Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr.), a black aspiring medical student eager to get into college. Hoping to help Megan rekindle her love of dance, Thomas begins to teach the classically trained performer more primal moves from the street.

Side stories spoof everything from High School Musical, Dreamgirls, and Step Up to Twilight, You Got Served and Fame—along with the The Biggest Loser and Brittney Spears’ parenting dilemmas. Even a classic scene from Singin’ in the Rain makes it in. But while teens (the demographic this film is clearly aimed at) might enjoy spotting the scenes ripped from other movies, television shows and tabloid headlines, the heavy content in this production will likely leave most parents feeling uncomfortable with the outing.

In an online entertainment interview, Shawn Wayans (one of the writers, producers and actors in Dance Flick) confesses, “We’re an equal opportunity offender.” And offensive might be just the right word to describe this film’s sense of humor that includes the portrayal of bodily functions, the excessive use of rude terms for male anatomy, prescription drug use comments, homosexual jokes, exaggerated sexually-oriented visual gags and child abuse.

While the drama teacher in this film implores his students to maintain “dignity” in their art, it is evident that dignity is the last thing this crude teen parody is concerned with preserving.

Starring Damon Wayans Jr., Craig Wayans, Shoshana Bush. Running time: 83 minutes. Theatrical release May 22, 2009. Updated

Dance Flick
Rating & Content Info

Why is Dance Flick rated PG-13? Dance Flick is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for crude and sexual content throughout, and language.

“Packed with” doesn’t begin to describe the amount of crude humor in this film where dance contestants are urinated on, portrayed with their heads inserted between their buttocks and shown giving birth during a competition. Although played for laughs, dancers also pull guns on one another and rob other participants. Characters are kicked in the face, hit, slapped, body slammed and molested. A woman dies after being repeatedly hit or run over by automobiles. A man cuts off his foot. A girl jumps to her death after being bullied by a teacher. Numerous students are the recipients of cruel comments from a teacher. A blind man spills hot coffee on a woman’s lap and then falls down an open manhole. A baby is left in a school locker and is later given an alcoholic beverage. He is also hung out a second storey window and repeatedly hit against a closed window. A mother comments about her baby’s sexual activity. A male teacher kisses a male student and talks about giving up his “manhood”. A female gym teacher makes sexually oriented comments and forces two female students to strip down to their underwear and engage in a lewd fight. Several females are portrayed with exaggerated female sexual organs and body parts. A male student makes repeated comments about female sexual organs. A drunk girl is shown driving with a car full of liquor. A man is hit by lightening. Characters engage in bawdy pole dancing. Characters discuss condoms, tampons, prostitutes, porn stars and drugs for sexually transmitted diseases. There are references to oral sex and crude bodily functions along with frequent crass terms for male anatomy. The script also includes some alcohol use by teens, the portrayal of guns and gangs, racial slurs and repeated profanities and terms of Deity.

Page last updated

Dance Flick Parents' Guide

Do you think comedy has to be offensive in order to be funny? Is it better to try and insult a wide range of people rather than focus on individuals or specific groups?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Dance Flick movie is September 8, 2009. Here are some details…

Release Date: Sep 8, 2009

Dance Flick releases to Blu-ray in an Unrated and Outrageous Edition. Audio tracks are available in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English) and Dolby Digital 5.1 (English). Along with all the unrated material not included in the theatrical release of movie, the disc offers:

- Featurettes: Dance Dance Dance! With the Wayans Wayans Wayans! and Dancing Outtakes

- Deleted Scenes

- Theatrical Trailer

Related home video titles:

For those more serious about this genre, you might want to check out the movies Step Up and Shall We Dance?