Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson, Kevin McDonald, Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch
Year: 1996
Characters: 31 characters
Dave Foley (Marv/Psychiatrist/Suicidal businessman(workprint)/Just a guy/Raymond Herdicure)
Bruce McCulloch (Alice/Cop/Cisco/White trash man/Greevo/Cancer boy/Worm pill scientist)
Kevin McDonald (Dr. Chris Cooper/Doreen/Chris' dad/Lacy)
Mark McKinney (Don Roritor/Simon/German patient/Nina Bedford/Cabbie/White trash woman/Cop)
Scott Thompson (Mrs. Herdicure/Baxter/Wally/Malek/Clemptor/The Queen/Big Stummies scientist)
Other cast: Katheryn Greenwood, Amy Smith, Lachlan Murdoch, Nicole de Boer, Krista Bridges, Christopher Redman, Erica Lancaster, Jackie Harris, Jonathon Wilson, Jeneane Garafolo (cameo), Brendan Fraser (cameo), Paul Belini (cameo)
Producer: Lorne Michaels
Director: Kelly Makin
Writer: Norm Hisock, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson
Paramount
R; 89 minutes
-Plot Summary-
A team of scientist develope a drug that will cure depression. But upon their employers threatening to close down their lab, they rush the drug through testing and release it. Problems begin to develope after one of the first test subjects goes into a coma. (NOTE: The workprint offers an alternate ending.)
-Reviews-
KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY Review
By Sabine McDonald
It's something every depressed, down, sad, and suicidal person wants: a pill that can keep them happy all the time. And now, it's finally here! An orange tablet that can dig up your happiest memory and keep it frozen in your mind. And the creators of this wonderdrug -- Canadian comedy troupe Kids in the Hall -- don't just dig up happiness, they dig up a whole lotta fun and humor in their feature film debut Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy.
The delightful and occasionally dark premise revolves around scientist Dr. Chris Cooper (Kevin McDonald), who creates an anti-depressant lozenge that is later christened Gleemonex. The only conflict is that Chris's creation is rushed into production without enough testing by a slick pharmeceutical company boss Don Roritor (Mark McKinney), after the company's old prescription fad, Stummies, became outdated. But since nobody seems to care about side effects or chemical glitches, the drug is marketed and soon becomes a nationwide hit.
And yes, there are the fans of the drug, who credit Gleemonex for turning their unhappy lives around. A closeted homosexual, Wally Terzinsky (Scott Thompson), comes out in a song-and-dance number to the joy of his wife and kids; a sullen rock icon named Grivo (Bruce McCulloch) transforms into a cheerful flowerchild, trading in his head-banging hit "Some Days It's Dark" for a lighter ballad entitled "Happiness Pie"; and a homeless man even credits Jesus -- uh, he means Dr. Cooper -- for giving him Gleemonex and making him more productive (he is now a security guard, with a gun).
During the whole craze of this miracle-working orange capsule, nobody suspects that those pesky side effects will kick in -- but they do. As Cooper discovers, the earlier test subjects begin to slip into comas that degrades them into grinning zombies. After finding no solace from Roritor to go to the media with the new discovery, Chris decides that it's only up to him and his team of inept scientists to try and release the secret behind the company's hideousness to the media.
The troupe also offers hilarity in their assorted roles, which range from an elderly grandmother (Thompson), Roritor's yes-man underling, Marv (Dave Foley), a cynical Croatian cabbie who narrates the film (McKinney), Chris's depressed and suicidal father (McDonald), and a sickly yet optimistic youth named Cancer Boy (McCulloch). With all these diverse and different odd ducks backing up the film's subplots, it sure does make the atmosphere both charming and offbeat.
The movie was written by Norm Hiscock along with four out of five of the Kids (minus Foley) and directed by Kelly Makin (also a segment director from the series). And both teams did their parts well. An interesting factor about the film is that even though Brain Candy's message about eternal happiness can be a haunting idea, the bright and techno colours of all the objects -- the drug, the clothes, the backgrounds, and everything else -- show that behind all the depression, there is a beautiful additive to life itself.
By keeping their risque comic style alive in Brain Candy, the Kids in the Hall have once again proved that there are no holds barred when it comes to getting laughs. With the exact type of comedy you would expect from the five-man troupe, the Kids reveal their hidden message in the film by portraying a society that hungers for constant happiness and comfort in prescription pills. Perhaps Chris's statement in the film's climax describes it best: "You can't be happy all the time! That's life!"
==========================================
Filmography||Front (No Frames)