Strange Brew
If there was any true rival to the early manic comic genius days of Saturday Night Live, then it would have to be the legendary Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV which spawned many major stars in their own right such as John Candy, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, and Catherine OâHara. When the Canadian censorship regulation boards complained that there wasnât enough viable âCanadian contentâ in the show itself, thatâs when cast members Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis quickly conceived and brought to life The McKenzie Brothers (Bob and Doug), two drunken idiots through which they purposely tried to convey every offensive Canadian stereotype imaginable, with their sketch segment (Great White North) basically just consisting of them sitting there getting piss drunk and randomly riffing on whatever subjects just happened to enter their minds. Ironically enough, it wound up becoming the most popular recurring segment in the history of the show, becoming just as popular in America as it was in Canada due in no small part to Thomas and Moranisâ brilliant improvisational skills between each other while mostly pretending to be drunk. It also showed the rather impressive range shown by Moranis who later became a big comedy movie star playing almost exclusively ânerdyâ type roles (inspired no doubt by his watershed role as the sadly pathetic Louis in Ghostbusters), but as Bob McKenzie he was really just more of a drunken little shit with no glasses anywhere in sight while Thomas went on to have a respectable but not spectacular career as a dependable comedy character actor. As the characters grew in their popularity it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling and the so called âCheech and Chong of beerâ were hired to both co write AND co direct their very own ticket to stardom that became this 1983 release which gained enormous success on cable TV airings and became solidified as one of the greatest cult comedies ever, even though unlike Cheech and Chong no sequels were ever forthcoming to continue the âAdventures Of Bob And Doug McKenzieâ which is probably the only real disappointment about it (although in recent years a legitimate sequel attempt was made which wound up being aborted). So just exactly WHY is this movie a classic? Well, for one thing it IS pretty damn funny, with its starring duo showing more than just a little bit of audacity in both the writing and presentation, literally starting the movie with the two of them just sitting there talking (like on the show) for nearly the first ten minutes and even making a failed attempt to show their own science fiction home movie before we realize that a movie audience within the movie itself is starting to become highly agitated at the use of repetitive jokes and humor during the premiere only to wind up chasing The McKenzies (who are in attendance) out of the theater and through the streets running for their lives so that we can now start the movie proper as we both laugh and shake our heads at just how ridiculous all of it is. As far as the actual plot of the movie goes, another risky and daring conceit that wound up working brilliantly is that the story is actually a loose, low rent, comic version of Shakesphereâs Hamlet as it revolves around the family turmoil at a local brewery (called Elsinore) where it turns out that the kindly owner has been brutally murdered leading to his sniveling brother both marrying his wife and trying to usurp control of the place from the dead ownerâs daughter and rightful heir, with Bob and Doug lazily and stupidly stumbling into this whole mess when they bring an empty beer bottle with a live mouse in it there in a lame attempt to get free beer and wind up getting jobs on the bottling lines while also befriending the daughter and her romantic interest (a former NHL star) who would also appear to be an employee there. But it turns out that the obvious villain in the deceitful brother (Paul Dooley) is merely but a foolish pawn for the real bad guy (and actual murderer of the father), a sinister, shadowy sort known as Brewmeister Smith. And in the filmâs greatest coup of them all, we get the revered Max Von Sydow playing the role, as the part was originally written with him in mind all along even as Thomas and Moranis highly doubted that he would ever actually âlowerâ himself to appear in a goofy little film like this, but as it turned out, when the script was sent to Von Sydow on the long shot possibility that he would accept the role, Von Sydow (who had never heard of The McKenzies before this) talked to his son whom it turned out was a HUGE fan of SCTV and who practically begged his dad to take it on. And amazingly, while he does bring a special brand of menace to the film, Von Sydow also turns out to be quite funny at times as well. First seen and introduced while coming out of the bathroom as the toilet is flushing, Von Sydowâs Smith would appear to be both a clinical psychiatrist as well as an expert chemist when it comes to creating his own special formulas for brewing beer, designing a special brand that if enough of it is drank by the subject makes them susceptible to mind control at Von Sydowâs hands as he conducts experiments with mental patients under his care while preparing to unleash his product on an unsuspecting public in order to rule the world, or at least a world full of drunks. All this while we see him proudly have his world domination board âlit upâ in order to make him feel good about his sinister work and also witness his growing exasperation not only at Bob and Doug spoiling his plans (inadvertently) but also at Dooleyâs bumbling putz of a sidekick who seems to completely lose his nerve whenever things start to get hairy. Overall, Von Sydow is just an awesome comic villain, played by a great, great actor who winds up enhancing the film rather than seeming completely out of place. Plus it is in many other places that Thomas and Moranis get it just right in creating an original comic vision for their film, from the two of them having a beer loving dog who by the end would appear to have super powers to the also audacious casting of voiceover legend Mel Blanc as their nasty bastard of a father to just straight out keeping it real with their own adlibbed chemistry, as Bob and Doug legitimately come across as being two obnoxious fourth graders who never really grew up, with Doug mockingly playing the role of the semi bullying big brother always picking on and putting the blame on Bob for anything that happens to go wrong even as most endearingly of all is the fact that the twosome almost NEVER show any kind of real worry or panic over any given situation (even when framed for a kidnapping and attempted murder gone wrong), simply by adapting to the matter at hand while still behaving like a couple of complete idiots even while in the courtroom. All this as we realize that in order for the evil Von Sydowâs plan to succeed he must put himself in a situation where he can have full control over all the players (even his own allies) with the random, unpredictable stupidity of the brothersâ actions being the main thing which he cannot plan for or combat against. At a tightly paced 90 minutes and with certain pot points and bits being a little unrealistic, the film never forgets that itâs supposed to be a dumb comedy first and foremost and makes no apologies for that fact and in so doing places itself very high on the all time list for being amongst the BEST dumb comedies ever made, knowing all too well that its basic, simple purpose is just to make audiences laugh and put smiles on their faces, something it does with such enormous regularity and success that it makes its two stars perhaps the greatest one shot comedy team in cinema history and serves as a staunch reminder that getting drunk and acting stupid is rarely considered to be a crime in and of itselfâŚ
10/10