Strangers with Candy

Sweetheart Amy Sedaris plays appropriately named, Jerri Blank in the off the wall comedy about a 46 year old ex-drug addict, prostitute and loser who goes back to high school. She appears almost retarded but she is everything but. The Comedy Central series from 1999-2001 named the same title, was 30 episodes of the same genre. She offers crude, down right shocking remarks that you have to laugh about. She is passive bisexual and lude and lacks all graces of the typical middle aged female. Amy Sedaris is hilarious and her off the chart behavior in this movie should get your mind off any problems. If you are expecting a truly down to earth teen age comedy, you will be disappointed as it is everything but. It violates sensitive politically correct subjects from race to sex preferences to gross references to drug and sex addiction in a very comical way that you just can't find offensive. Stand back and take a different perspective when watching this movie and don't take it so seriously and you will enjoy it greatly. She is truly a talented comedian. Everyone has to love Amy Sedaris. Loves Amy Sedaris.

The movie is great, for what it is. I am a loyal fan of the show and the cast and they did a good job of making a movie version of the series. However, it is important to note that this process is very difficult and the movie appears to be more of a long episode of the show. Nevertheless, it is enjoyable, with jokes that are easily accessible to those who have a clue about the world, and makes fun of those who do not. Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris...all brilliant. Ms. Sedaris, a slight, cute woman in reality is vulgar and wonderfully crude. Stephen Colbert does a great job of being the born again Christian teacher (note the table of elements in the background of his classroom-it's in the shape of a cross!). And Paul Dinello is a reliable, humorous counterpart to Mr. Colbert once again. Parodying society in a parallel universe of a twisted after school special, it is wonderfully enjoyable.

This was a pretty wacky movie - very unusual and unlike anything I've seen before.

This movie has fairly basic plot: a recently released 40+ year old lady wants to help bring her father out of a coma, so she embarks on the task of bettering herself by going back to high school and excelling. If it doesn't make sense, that's OK - it's nothing compared to the characters.

What makes this movie so unusual are the characters - the lead character (Amy Sedaris), the principal, the parents, etc. They are so strangely conceived and acted that it's really wild to watch. I guess that means that the actors and director did a pretty good job.

I can't say this movie was funny. Rather, it was amusing because of the extreme nature of characters. It was interesting to watch just to see what they were going to say next.

If you're in the mood for something really strange - check this out. You'll know after the first 10 minutes if this is something that's going to interest you.

This movie had very funny moments and the whole idea of a life first suspended -- for thirty-two years -- and then resumed exactly where it was left off promises great exhilaration. The plot is simple but cleverly executed with straightforward wit and healthy irony at the expense of much 'high-school' culture examined in a provocative way to repeat what many know (that racism is perniciously persistent in American education) but seldom face. Though far different in scope and much more ambitious, Crash comes to my mind as a term of comparison for the racism issue, but Strangers with Candy is neither as subtle nor as successful as Crash in making the audience confront their own denial about what racism is and how it manifests itself. Strangers with Candy is a truly funny movie with a somewhat serious message that never spoils the fun. I admit that in some moments I felt uncomfortable with the behaviors of some of the characters in relation to race; yet I do recognize that this is just a movie and reality is a lot uglier than any fantasy. But viewers should resist the notion that the movie is merely supposed to be funny. The plot and the purposefully unsubtle dialog inevitably should make one think of race and racism. I hope viewers will recognize that.

Kind of like a best of album for the show, all the best routines and gags are here. If you can get your hands on the series watch it, unlike Reno 911 were the movie is an extension of (and better than) the series, this is the entire series condensed ...(read more)to an hour and half. Though there's a lot of recycled material there's a fair amount of new jokes as well. In any event its still one of the funniest comedies in recent memory. Amy Sedaris is brilliant, and Stephen Colbert is great to watch here as well. My only real complaint is the dance sequence in the credits is kinda simple(the dance sequences at the end of each episode used to be one of the best parts of the show). Sans that, this was great.

"Hello, I'm Jerri Blank and - and I'm an alcoholic. I'm also addicted to amphetamines as well as main line narcotics. Some people say I have a sex addiction, but I think all those years of prostitution was just a means to feed my ravenous hunger for heroin. It's kinda like the chicken or the nugget. The point is, I'm addicted to gambling. Thank you."