Hey, kids, remember those neat-o Encyclopedia Brown books, in which a prepubescent genius solved mysteries in his suburban neighborhood? What if Brown and his like-minded buddies had never grown out of that phase, and rode around on their Schwinns in search of whoever stole Grandma Perkins’s antique clock well into their high-school years? Let’s take this a step further: Does the thought of watching grown men act like socially awkward boy wonders, while everyone tries not to look confused at their golly-gee shenanigans, crack you up? How about dudes sprouting inappropriate boners...did you giggle when you read that? This goof from the sketch group Derrick Comedy may be for you; go enjoy the antics of the developmentally arrested detectives Jason (Glover), Duncan (Pierson) and Charlie (Dierkes). As for the rest of us, who like our college humor to be more than a single high-concept joke spread mercilessly thin, this slapdash parody will simply inspire shrugs.
The Derrick crew cut their teeth doing silly, sensational Web shorts, and you could actually imagine this premise working more effectively as a series of brief YouTube clips. But after the umpteenth time you’ve seen the team in anachronistic disguises (fake handlebar mustaches equal hilarity!) and watched them become perplexed over mature behavior (what is this “the sex” that people keep mentioning?), the only mystery is whether the filmmakers will realize that this stopped being funny a half hour ago.—David Fear
Opens Fri; Quad. Find showtimes
Watch the trailer