Back on the Strip is a guilty pleasure in the sense that I feel like I need to apologize to somebody for laughing as much as I did.  This unleashed movie isn’t very perceptive or thoughtful, but it knows how to deliver a payoff and a punchline.  I suppose in these circumstances you have to be fair and give credit where credit is due, but it feels like I’m rewarding bad behaviour.

The R-rated story is made up of juvenile and naive concepts, such as the dreams of our lead character Merlin (Spence Moore II).  Proving the Freakonomics name experiment correctly, Merlin has aspired his whole life to being a magician.  His teenage curiousity has directed his dreams towards Las Vegas.  Unfortunately, he can’t make it past “birthday clown”.  He’s ridiculed by mostly everyone who finds out about his red-nosed-and-rainbow-haired profession, except his mother Verna (Bad Trip’s Tiffany Haddish) who encourages Merlin to shoot big and not hesitate to travel to Vegas to cut his teeth as a big-time performer.  Merlin’s struggles follow him, but his claim to fame is railroaded by his “well-endowed” secret when motel manager Rita (Colleen Camp of 5-25-77) and former exotic dancer Luther (Wesley Snipes) catch a glimpse during a botched show. 

Luther was part of a very popular Vegas stripping troupe named The Chocolate Chips.  After Merlin’s wardrobe malfunction, Luther selflessly takes the young buck under his wing and, together, they try to “put the band back together”.  Other than Luther (aka. Mr. Big), the Chips are: The Face (comedian Bill Bellamy), Mr. Da Body (Faizon Love of Ripped), Mr. Slim Sexy (Curb Your Enthusiasm’s J.B. Smoove), and the masked Dr. X (comic Gary Owen, but don’t look him up to prevent a joke from being spoiled).

Director Chris Spencer wants Back on the Strip to have the would-be heart of The Full Monty, which is tough when the humour is not innocent and resembles the stupid yucks of the Deuce Bigalow flicks and the starry-eyed raunch of Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star.  However, because the production is indifferent towards its audience, Back on the Strip somehow slips into success.  If the movie makes people laugh, the production is happy.  If viewers discover an underdog tale with characters worthy of rooting for, that’s cool too. 

Back on the Strip just wants to make the audience smile.  The methods at play don’t always guarantee noteworthy results but, because the film has been blessed with a good cast who are experienced with finding gold in lowbrow material, it miraculously finds its way.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie