Review of Fifty Shades of Black (2016) by Jeff B — 08 Feb 2016

With jokes and gags that slap you across the face harder than being on the submissive part of an S&M session, this Fifty Shades parody Black-balls spoof films back into virgin territory. In the bland tradition of Date Movie, Superhero Movie, and Meet the Spartans comes Fifty Shades of Black, a one (and a half) note send up of the one-note film spawned from E.L. James' one-note novels. Granted, taking aim at bottom-feeders allows for a ripe proving ground of comedy because these low denominators are unintentionally funny to begin with. Unfortunately, Black aims just as low as it intended victim, trying to wring easy laughs out of material that accidentally ended up to be funny in the source material. If some pointed jokes about race and sex didn't at least hit just inside the dartboard, Fifty Shades of Black wouldn't even rank one (and a half) star. In regards to skewing pop culture, Black is - simply put - whack.

In this R-rated spoof, an inexperienced college student meets a wealthy businessman whose sexual practices put a strain on their relationship.

Not much was expected of the Wayans's parodic oeuvre, mind you. With Dance Flick and Haunted House having already grabbed very low hanging fruit (think: strip mining topsoil) off of other genres rather than play it straight with clever dialogue a la Airplane! or The Naked Gun, this gratuitous exercise follows in very much the same small footsteps. The leads make the most out of cheap shots but some cameos from Fred Willard, Jane Seymour, and - wait for it - Florence Henderson make for the funniest exchanges.

Bottom line: Meh in Black.