Cast:
Dave Thomas (Doug McKenzie), Rick Moranis (Bob McKenzie), Max von Sydow (Brewmeister Smith), Lynne Griffin (Pam Elsinore), Angus MacInnes (Jean "Rosie" LeRose), Paul Dooley (Uncle Claude), Brian McConnachie (Ted), Mel Blanc (Father McKenzie), Tom Harvey (The Inspector), and Douglas Campbell (Henry Green) Directed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis.
Review:
There is something fascinating about watching an adaptation of TV material into a feature film, if you think about it. But there is something really fascinating about watching a film based on material that was originally created as a mockery that initially was a two-minute sketch. No, really. In 1980, Second City Television (SCTV), a TV show with a handful of members of the Toronto Second City troupe, was making its return to television for its third season after a momentary hiatus that saw it broadcast nationwide in Canada on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (with select syndication in America). In light of the fact that the Canadian rendition of the series would be two minutes longer due to less commercial content than the American rendition, the CBC requested that those two minutes be allocated to Canadian content material." When SCTV cast members Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis heard this, they asked, "Well what do you want us to do, put up a map of Canada and sit in front of it wearing toques and parkas and cook back-bacon and 'Talk like dis, eh'?" The answer was essentially, yes. As related by Thomas, these sketches would be done at the end of a production day with a minimal crew of three to basically try and get a couple of two-minute stuff they could improvise out of a filming hour, which they called "all very low key and stupid". To get a gauge on the segments, one of them involved "Twist-off Tops". Oddly enough, the segments first gained popularity within the American edition first, particularly when NBC picked up the show for network airing on Fridays in 1981. The result of "Bob and Doug" resulted in a comedy album (The Great White North) and this film, which essentially served as their finale. Of course, the two have reprised the roles for a handful of commercials (such as one against beer taxes in 2023), a "Two-Four Anniversary", and a loose inspiration (yes, in moose form) in the Brother Bear films (2003, 2006). Such is the popularity of the two is that they have their own statue in Edmonton (where a good chunk of SCTV was filmed).
The success of the album, combined with seeing John Candy get an offer to do a film (Going Berserk) inspired them to think about doing a film, which saw them hire Steve De Jarnatt to do a first draft, complete with asking him to use Hamlet as a "sort of springboard". The result was a script that went from agents to a deal with MGM in a flash despite the fact that Thomas and Moranis felt was going to need tinkering from them to make it more of their own voice. Jack Grossberg gave the two guidance as executive producer when the duo was unexpectedly asked to direct the film as well as star and write it. As a whole, you can see the efforts done by the two to make a goofy feature that seems just about at home with other films of its ilk in sketch-turned-films such as the earlier The Blues Brothers (1980) or the subsequent Wayne's World (1992). As someone who went on a lark to pick this one out for a spotlight (for a film that happened to turn 40 last month), I can say it is a lovingly silly feature that makes the most of two goofball leads packed into a story wrapped in the amount of foliage you would expect to hold up a number of gags that come around. Of course, I have to admit my surprise that Hamlet was the loose thread to build around, if only because we are talking about a film that involves mind control beer, heroic flying dogs, and ghosts that possess electrical outlets. The 90-minute runtime sees a good deal of rambling and entertainment from Moranis and Thomas, who seem to squeeze any and every trick in the book of bits to mine together for chuckles, which manages to give them both time to shine without seeing a crack in the jovially dense characterizations that stick in your head in inane interest. Of course, it helps to have a game supporting cast, for which von Sydow and Dooley make dependable heavies to go along with the proceedings that seemingly reward those already quite familiar with their presence (the former was a surprise recruitment because Thomas and Moranis didn't actually think MGM could get him and the latter is Paul Dooley, what more do you need?). Griffin and MacInnes round out the general cast with good balance to accompany the bumblers with mostly straight-man routine (of note is among the rest of the cast is one scene spent with the famed voice actor Mel Blanc). At any rate, the film holds its own with a jovial pace that has two distinct halves, one involving the duo showing a poorly received film before they come up with "this mouse was in my beer bottle" and the other one involving them stumbling onto a brewery going into the world domination business (and yes, a dead uncle intervention) that results in a good deal of offbeat amusement. It is a casually enjoyable Canadian film through and through for all the folks (and hosers) at home.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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