With "The Gutter," writers/directors/brothers Yassir and Isaiah Lester have done something I, a Black person, thought would never happen: prove that people of color can make hilariously dumb comedies, too.
They have Shameik Moore starring as Walt, a dim-witted, usually shirtless screw-up who gets a job bartending at a run-down, barely-populated bowling alley run by haggard proprietor Mozell (former "227" siren Jackee Harry). That's where Walt meets Skunk ("The Good Place" alumna D'Arcy Carden), a former pro bowler turned rampant alcoholic who notices Walt's almost-supernatural ability to bowl a strike no matter how many different ways – underhand, from across the room, just throwing it – he rolls a ball.
When a building inspector (everybody's current Netflix crush, Adam Brody) comes by and informs Mozell that the alley needs $200,000 in renovations – or else it shuts down in 60 days – Walt and Skunk team up and hit the road competing in pro-bowling tournaments. Walt (who gives himself a bowling name we can't really print here) sees this as a chance to shine, dressing up like his favorite rappers and getting endorsement deals from Pornhub and Spicy Hot Miik. As for Skunk, Walt is her chance to take down the legacy of villainous, chain-smoking bowling legend Linda Curson (Susan Sarandon), who comes out of retirement to show them who's boss.
It's safe to say that "Gutter" doesn't have an original bone in its body. Of course, it owes a lot to "Kingpin" and "The Big Lebowski," two bowling comedies that were also directed by a pair of brothers, as well as aggressively silly, underdog sports comedies/SNL castmate vehicles like "Happy Gilmore" and "Hot Rod." But, so help me God, I couldn't stop cackling during this.
Really, the anything-goes comedy of "Gutter" has more in common with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's late-aughts/early-2010s run of relentlessly absurd, mostly ad-libbed comedies. Characters say and do crazy, usually profane things at a feverish clip. But since this is a movie written by, directed by, and starring people of color, the humor is more, shall we say, urban this time around.
This is the kind of comedy where you see a hotep named Brother Candy (Rell Battle) preaching through a megaphone about white people coming from monkeys ("That's why their nipples are pink!"), or a guy ghost-riding his car through the hood, only to have the vehicle crash into some garbage cans. When Walt starts slipping in the bowling department, he believes it's a conspiracy: "These white folks don't want me to win. It's like what Kendrick Lamar be talking about in his short [racial slur] dreadlock raps."
Moore, who's mostly known as the voice of Miles Morales in the animated "Spider-Man" movies, leads the foul-mouthed charge as the idiotic but confident Walt. He basically plays him as nothing but a sex-charged, superficial id, not letting his lack of social skills or even his inability to read stop him from reaching the top – and, hopefully, getting a threesome. The perpetually midriff-showing Carden is more like an acerbic straight man, knocking back brewskis and giving deadpan, hot-mess vibes as his vagrant of a coach.
The cast is sprinkled with random cameos, including Kim Fields as Walt's mooching mother, "Insecure" star Jay Ellis as Walt's supposedly unattractive cousin, and "How Did This Get Made?" podcaster Paul Scheer as a sunburned, Southern bowler. Paul Reiser is also around as a bowling commentator who gives Walt and Skunk a hard time. (Think Fred Willard's commentator in "Best in Show," but more racist and pathetic.) We also have Yassir Lester's fellow comics in the African American stand-up scene popping up here and there. Social media favorite Tony Baker shows up outta nowhere to ask Walt for money and a burgundy cummerbund.
As with most comedies that throw everything out there (and throw common sense out the window) to get laughs, some bits and pieces don't land. But the Lesters thankfully cram in enough ghettofabulous gags to keep me continuously giggling.
Some people may call "The Gutter" stupid. But I'm sure after Black people see this, they'll also call it stupid — but mean it as high praise.
