Jekyll And Hyde Together Again
After the phrase âpolitical correctnessâ along with its meaning and definition was coined in the mid 90s at the height of The Clinton Regime, people tended to forget pretty quickly that in the realms of 1970s and 80s pop culture including movies, music and television, there were plenty of instances of comedy moments at the time that they could NEVER get away with today and that certainly included numerous bits about drugs and drug addiction (of which Cheech and Chong were pretty much the kings of such material). But there were other efforts of that kind too including this surprisingly fondly remembered release from 1982, a film that might very well be termed the first ever (and only) pro COCAINE comedy in movie history which is actually pretty indicative of the actual time frame in which this movie was made in the early 80s where no doubt the infamous white substance was literally everywhere to be found around Hollywood and elsewhere. That it was a modern day spoof of the famous Jekyll and Hyde story is also no surprise since itâs been speculated by many historians that Robert Louis Stevenson himself was heavily under the influence of cocaine while writing the story (possibly for âexperimentalâ purposes as well) and pretty much cranked out the story as his own personal coke fueled fever dream (the film even ends with him rolling over in his grave). In the last 30 to 40 years, weâve actually had very few if any definitive cinematic adaptations of the entire Jekyll and Hyde legend. There was a Broadway musical, Anthony Perkinsâ psychotically brilliant take in Edge Of Sanity playing a Jekyll and Hyde / Jack The Ripper hybrid, John Malkovichâs immediately forgotten take on the dual role opposite Julia Roberts as his housekeeper in Mary Reilly and of course this version from 1982 featuring the all but forgotten comedian Mark Blankfield (remembered by many for his bits on the old sketch comedy show Fridays where drug humor was very much on the table to be used as material) as Dr. Daniel Jekyll (the original characterâs first name was Henry), a brilliant and highly regarded surgeon who is being groomed to perform what is called âa full transplantâ operation on a super rich Howard Hughes type billionaire who promises Jekyllâs future father in law and head of the hospital (Michael McGuire) a nearly limitless infusion of cash flow into the hospitalâs pockets if the operation is performed. Problem is, Jekyll has already announced his intention to quit performing surgeries in order to continue his research, which as stated appears to be in the experimentation with drugs in order to raise mankindâs instinctive survival qualities which in turn would preclude any need to require surgery in the future. Of course, itâs really just him trying to find a medical necessity for the coke and after the lab mice that heâs been feeding the drug to turn out to be more depressed than anything, he finally takes the drug himself through what seems more like a happy accident, resulting in a transformation that sees his hair become completely frizzed out, a moustache appear on his face out of nowhere, chest hair suddenly growing out on his chest and (strangest of all) a gold earring and chains growing out of his body and his pinky fingernail growing to nearly a foot long (in a subtle nod to Rick Bakerâs transformation FX work on American Werewolf). Once in this mode, Blankfield behaves like a sex crazed version of The Great Cornholio from Beavis And Butthead (and appears to be so into conveying the insanity of the character one almost wonders what HE was snorting on the set). Being sex crazed is a good thing because even though his rich fiancĂ©e (Bess Armstrong) would rather kiss him on the cheek than actually give him any nookie, heâs already fallen for an absolutely gorgeous stripper / prostitute named Ivy (Krista Errickson, who later gave up acting to become an award winning international journalist) who after their first wild night together (where he wakes up guilt ridden and surrounded by various toys that seemed to have come out of nowhere along with a sheep) becomes his obsession whenever he is âunder the influenceâ. Keep in mind though that this IS a comedy, one which clearly falls under the Airplane! / ZAZ / Mel Brooks school of anything for a laugh with at least one gag every minute style of comedy and sometimes here and there a bit hits the viewer good enough to get a major round of laughter including several that are straight up digs at the medical profession itself (at one point the hospital PA system announces âattention: will any patients who do not have medical insurance please leave the hospital immediatelyâ). Blankfieldâs Hyde is rather harmless though, not at all like the murderer as he was originally portrayed as being but still so over the top nuts (especially with the spastic physical contortions) that one wonders why the character is never shown at all being committed to a lunatic asylum (which he can escape from naturally) but what we get instead is him blowing off the billionaireâs full transplant surgery (and destroying the donated organs which leaves the cash strapped father in law donating his own instead) and instead heading to London to accept a Nobel Prize of some sort for his research (and the stripper girlfriend in pursuit by taking a TRAIN from America to London) with the ceremony itself seeing an onstage introduction of The Queen (who turns out to be an obviously gay male instead) followed up by a really bad stand up routine / musical number by Blankfieldâs Hyde. All of this feels more coke induced on the filmmakersâ part than anything, even whipping up a climax where Hyde and his pursuers go through a time warp of some kind (complete with a picture change from color to black and white) and find themselves in a Victorian era setting more akin to the original story and older films. Of course, there are always the gags that manage to stick with you such as Armstrongâs fiancĂ©e heiress chastising her husband to be for not making enough money and even saying to him âAfter all, we have to eatâ right before climbing into the back of a chauffeur driven limousine. And then there is Tim Thomerson, cast out of the blue in what appears to be the obvious token role of Jekyllâs plastic surgeon colleague and rival for Armstrongâs affections who (surprise!) actually turns out to be gay. Fortunately, Thomerson is able to play it off as being funny rather than stereotypical or offensive. The final minutes showing the reconciliation between Armstrongâs fiancĂ©e and Erricksonâs stripper girlfriend over their sharing of the main character invites some amusing irony as Jekyll has barely ever touched his fiancĂ©e (thus leaving her desperately horny and hoping that sooner or later he would just throw caution to the wind) whereas the coked up Hyde has had countless rounds of intense sex with his stripper girlfriend (leaving her wishing that she could have a nicer, sweeter, more sensitive guy who wasnât so obsessed with having sex all the time which epitomizes Jekyll to a tee). Even as the film features scenes such as the billionaire negotiating with a man and then offering him a million dollars for him to donate his testicles for the big transplant operation (and right after the man has the âprocedureâ done, Hyde literally comes skipping around the corner out of nowhere and knees the poor bastard in the crotch which was obviously meant as being the payoff for that whole setup), it never quite seems to stoop quite as low as it could possibly go (except for it advocating the use of cocaine as a life enhancing substance) instead preferring to place its fortunes squarely upon the shoulders of Blankfield (a comedic actor who is obviously lacking in both presence and charisma) to behave just as maniacally crazy as humanly possible on camera with mixed results but at least Errickson as the stripper girlfriend is so charismatic yet goofy in her own right that she makes their scenes together bearable. With very little in the way of actual raunchiness (only one nipple is shown) and Blankfieldâs career riding off into the proverbial sunset until his hilarious âcomebackâ role as the blind servant Blinkin in Robin Hood: Men In Tights, this remains little more than just a silly curiosity for its time but certainly no masterpiece unless it had dared to push the envelope much further than it actually didâŠ
5/10