ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996             TAG: 9601150038
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B10  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

LIKE A BLUNT INSTRUMENT, `MENACE' MEANS TO OFFEND

Parody isn't supposed to be subtle, and Marlon and Shawn Wayans don't pull any punches in "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood."

They're executive producers, writers and co-stars in this send-up of every popular black-oriented drama of recent years, with John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood" and "Poetic Justice" getting special treatment. The Wayanses also take aim at other movies; the "91/2 Weeks" food-sex scene is wonderfully grotesque and disgusting.

The patchwork plot has to do with Ashtray (Shawn), the good kid who's trying to get out of the 'hood, and his best friend Loc Dog (Marlon), a "gangsta" stereotype. Producer Keenan Ivory Wayans appears briefly to point out the film's socially redeeming "messages."

The comedic bits touch on most of today's racial hotspots, from Korean convenience store owners who suspect black patrons of shoplifting, to Mark Fuhrman and Louis Farrakhan. In all cases, the humor means to be offensive. The one moment that has something for everyone is about respectable grandmothers breakdancing in church.

In the end, this is crude, rude, low-budget stuff. Fans of the Wayans' TV series "In Living Color" will enjoy it more than others. Anyone not familiar with the source material will be neither amused nor particularly outraged.

Don't Be a Menace ... **

A Miramax release playing at the Valley View 6. 86 min. Rated R for strong language, comic violence, sexual material, nudity.

LENGTH: Short :   41 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Shawn Waynans (left) and Marlon Waynans are Ashtray and 
          Loc Dog in "Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your 
          Juice in the Hood."  color