I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed Dance Flick. After all, it’s a film that pokes fun at so many movies I love because of their focus on dancing -- movies like Fame, High School Musical 3 and Hairspray. But this outrageous comedy from the Wayans family is also such fun to watch! My husband and our grown-up daughter laughed right along with me almost continually throughout the film’s running time. Yes, Dance Flick includes some raunchy scenes and more crude language than necessary. However, its amusing dialogue and humorous performances overshadow these negatives.

Borrowing most of the plot from Step Up and Save the Last Dance with a tad of You Got Served tossed in for good measure, Dance Flick tells the story of Thomas and Megan, two youngsters who fall for each other despite their very different backgrounds -- and dancing styles, of course. Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr.) brings street-dancing creds to the relationship, while Megan (Shoshana Bush) dreams of going to Juilliard and becoming a ballet dancer -- or at least she did, until her mother experienced a highly unusual accident (which has to be seen to be believed) on the way to her audition.

But forget the plot -- it’s simply a way to link hilarious parody scenes together for our viewing pleasure. For example, Megan’s best friend Charity (Essence Atkins) gives birth to her baby while break dancing: Thomas performs an unlikely homage to Gene Kelly’s famous “Singin’ in the Rain” routine; a rousing Fame-like number (“Flame”) bursts exuberantly onto the screen; the final dance challenge boasts impossibly crazy moves by both crews; and Sugar Bear (David Alan Grier in a fat suit) ends his comically powerful version of Jennifer Hudson’s Dreamgirls showstopper with “And you…and you…and you…are gonna feed me!”       

Although appearing in only a couple of scenes, Grier (Return to Me) almost steals the show with his over-the-top performance as the hungriest gang lord on film. Other cast members deserving recognition are: Wayans Jr. (Blankman) who looks great on screen while also displaying considerable comedy talent; Craig Wayans, as Baby Daddy, who gets away with the funniest “I’ve come to pick up my baby” scene you’ll ever see in a movie; and Essence Atkins (Deliver Us from Eva). With those big brown eyes sparkling in every one of her close-ups, Atkins is quite photogenic. And no matter how strangely “Charity” treats her darling little baby, we can’t help believing she must be doing the right thing. It’s too bad Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) gets stuck with the movie’s most distasteful scenes. If only things had been toned down a bit, she could have been wonderful as the authoritarian ballet instructor.   

Damien Wayans wisely relied heavily on his no-holds-barred sense of humor in directing Dance Flick, which he co-wrote with Keenan Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. But why isn't a choreographer mentioned in the credits? Perhaps no one wanted to take the blame -- not even a Wayans.

Dance Flick may be offensive to dancers and other living things, but it's also very funny.                 

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated “PG-13” for crude and sexual content throughout, and language.)

For more information about this film, please go to the Internet Movie Data Base or Rotten Tomatoes website.