KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY

"KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY"
(1996) (David Foley, Kevin McDonald) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	None	Mild	None	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	None	Minor	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	None	Minor	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A pharmaceutical company develops a drug that induces happiness.

PLOT:: Dr. Chris Cooper (KEVIN MCDONALD) is a research scientist for Roritor Pharmaceuticals and he's developed a drug that induces happiness by recalling the happiest memories of its user. This is great news for CEO Don Roritor (MARK MCKINNEY) and his right-hand man, Marv (DAVID FOLEY), who desperately need a new successful drug. Put into production before being completely tested and dubbed "Gleemonex," the happy drug is an immediate success. Users such as clinically depressed Mrs. Hurdicure (SCOTT THOMPSON) and closet homosexual Wally (also SCOTT THOMPSON) overcome their problems and are happy. Chris' partner and budding love interest, Alice (BRUCE MCCULLOCH), however, has found that the drug induces "happy comas" where the users become stuck in their favorite memory. As Chris and the others try to stop the drug, Don and Marv will do whatever it takes to keep it on the market.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Younger kids won't, but teenagers familiar with the Kids in the Hall comedy troupe will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For language and sexual humor.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: All of the actors play caricatures, and while none of them are really good role models, the characters played by MARK MCKINNEY (as Don) and DAVID FOLEY (as Marv) are greedy people only looking out for themselves.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 6 out of 10: Filmed in a pseudo Terry Gilliam style ("Brazil" "Twelve Monkeys"), this movie is interesting to watch and amusing at times. Obviously, one's liking of this comedy will depend somewhat with their familiarity of the Kids in the Hall comedy troupe (most recently seen in several HBO programs). This reviewer isn't overly familiar with them, however, and still was entertained by this film. Part of the fun is not knowing when the movie will take a sharp ninety degree turn or when some satirical humor will pop up. A brief, but biting example is when the pharmaceutical CEO reads their trade paper, "Drug Variety," and sees that they beat penicillin in the top ten "ratings." Those looking for irreverent, off the wall humor will probably enjoy this production. We give it a 6 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Parents should note that most of the material is satirical in nature and thus shouldn't be taken totally at face value. Topics that they make fun of include homosexuality, drug use (of the happy pill, not street drugs), and suicide. Profanity is extreme with 16 "f" words and while there's talk about masturbation and other sexually related material, nudity is limited to a few shots of bare men's buttocks. We suggest that you read the category listings (keeping in mind that this is satire) to determine if this movie is appropriate for you or your family.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Nearly everyone gets hooked on gleemonex, a drug that freezes their happiest memory and produces euphoric feelings.
A mother has a happy memory that includes her adult son pouring himself a drink.
Chris and his team are out celebrating keeping their jobs and appear to be drunk from drinking "tropical drinks."
Two police officers finish their beers, belch, and throw the bottles out their car windows.
When a depressed rock singer tells a crowd about a new drug, they yell out "Heroin...speed...hashish..." but he says it's something different (gleemonex).
People drink cocktails at a reception.
A man drinks whiskey.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Don wants to get everyone hooked on the drug so that the company profits will rise.
A man admits to stealing a delivery truck to make it up (?) to his girlfriend for having slept with her best friend.
One of the characters' names is "cancer boy" (an adult playing a kid), and he's seen in a wheelchair and while not entirely making fun of him, his illness isn't presented in a serious fashion.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: In another memory, a kid is asked by his depressed father if he cleaned, among other things, a gun. The kid says yes, the father goes inside and we then hear several gunshots and are told it took two hours before he hit a vital organ to kill himself (played for laughs).
In a musical number, two cops are seen shooting their guns into the air as they pass by in a gleemonex-induced daze.
In a flashback memory, we see several soldiers with machine guns.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: A young woman takes a cigarette from another woman and then snuffs it out on her wrist.
Two police officers finish their beers, belch, and throw the bottles out their car windows.
Phrases: "Drain the snake" (urinate), "Queers," "Whore," "Scum," "You suck," and "Bastards."
A cat drops from the ceiling onto Chris' head and he throws it to the floor where it runs away.
Some young kids look up a test subject's dress (she's in a gleemonex induced daze).
Marv's favorite memory is where another man urinates into Don's coffee that is then served to him.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): In the Tom Jones version of the Prince song "Kiss," the lyrics "I just need your body baby from dusk till dawn" are heard.

PROFANITY: 16 "f" words (4 used sexually), 5 "s" words, 1 slang term for male genitals (the "p" word), 4 "ass" words, 4 S.O.B.'s, 2 damns, 2 hells, 1 crap, and 2 uses of "Oh my God," and 1 use each of "Jesus Christ" and "My God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A nude man (Wallace) sits on a bed watching a "gay porn" tape. The only nudity seen is part of his bare buttocks, but it's implied that he's masturbating while watching the tape. Later his kids tell their mother "he's upstairs masturbating to gay porn."
A guy admits to having slept with his girlfriend's best friend and the woman then points to her crotch and tells him "You can say good-bye to this."
A test subject, who's no longer depressed, says that she's now posing as a nude art model.
There are several repeated scenes of large groups of men running from behind closed doors after they're discovered (implying some sort of homosexual activity). During one of them, Wallace is seen nude, his bare butt exposed and his hands the only things covering his genitals.
A man mentions that Gleemonex is "made from monkey cum" and that "they make the monkey's jack off" by showing them animal pornography "like two dogs making love with a cat."
Wallace finally takes gleemonex and then freely admits that he's gay during a musical number where everyone repeats that.
Chris wakes up in bed with two women (no nudity or movement is seen) and later it's said that he lost his virginity with them.
In a flashback memory, some soldiers spot the enemy across the way (showering, etc...). An officer tells Wally, "You go over there and f*ck them. We'll stay over here and masturbate." Wally hops the wall and races toward them, his bare buttocks exposed.
Baxter, one of the research team members whom they've tested on, starts humping another researcher's leg like a dog.

SMOKING: A young woman smokes at a rock concert.
A scientist smokes several times.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Many of the actors playing women are really men in drag.
Taking drugs to make oneself feel better.

VIOLENCE: A researcher steps on a subject's foot to make him open his mouth so that he can put a pill in it and then slaps the subject on the head.
Don and Chris fight over the use of the drug, but it's limited to slapping away a pointing hand and then some minor wrestling.
Chris grabs Don by the crotch and spits a gleemonex pill into his mouth.
A cab driver hits and runs over a gleemonex taking parade goer.

Reviewed January 3, 1997

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