Going Berserk

A drummer/chauffeur (John Candy) engaged to a congressman's daughter (Alley Mills) encounters a sleazy film director (Eugene Levy), the leader of an aerobics cult (Richard Libertini), and other crazed characters during the days leading up to his wedding.

If you want to see a very skinny Eugene Levy, or a young pre-ghost busting Ernie Hudson, this is the film for you. Obviously not as big as other John Candy films, but well worth a watch if you happen to be a fan. (As someone who is more familiar with "Freaks and Geeks" than "SCTV", it was a special treat for me to see a young Joe Flaherty.) That is really all I can say. A fun film to be sure...

This movie appears to have been made by someone with some good ideas but who also never had made a movie before nor had they considered that a script should be edited or even funny. When I saw this film, I saw it for John Candy and assumed, incorrectly, that it would be hilarious. Instead, there was a stupid plot about mind control and so many flat, unfunny moments. And, to top it off, Candy delivered some of the crudest lines I had ever heard up to that time. So, despite a potentially funny cast and story idea, we are left with an amateurish and crude movie that will probably be too stupid for the average adult, though teens will probably find a few laughs. It's really a shame--it could have been so much better. I mean, with Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty and John Candy it SHOULD have been wonderful.

It's not really a story film, despite the goings-on of John Candy, who's a limo driver with squirrelly acquaintances and his efforts to marry Alley Mills. She's the daughter of Congressman Pat Hingle. A cult led by Richard Libertini is trying to kill Hingle, and they figure to hypnotize Candy into doing it because why not?

It's an excuse for the members of the cast who were members of Second City -- Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty -- to do Second-City-style sketches. they range from mediocre to pretty funny. There's also the inevitable bit, when they have Candy hypnotized, that they seem to think it is very funny to have him do.... nothing. Film makers seem to think that this is funny. I do not.

Your enjoyment of this film will depend on your taste in comedy and whether you enjoy Second City.

It's not the most sophisticated movie in the world but if you can get past that (and if you can find a copy!), "Going Berserk" is loaded with laughs. Candy's portrayal is offbeat and hilarious. Steinberg's script has absurdities in it that are hysterical. I laugh everytime I watch it even though I know what's coming next. Worth your while to seek it out and turn off the high-brow expectations we assign to most movies and just laugh.

You should not take what I am about to say lightly. I've seen many, many films and have reviewed a great deal of them, in print. So when I tell you that this film has the single funniest scene I have ever seen in a movie, you might want to listen to me. There's a lot of diversity of opinion as to what makes this INCREDIBLY stupid movie as funny as it is. And to those who just didn't get, well, I can't blame them, too much. The scene I speak of, comes at about the 30 minute mark and involves a dead convict shackled to John Candy. Up until that point, I had found the film dumb, confusing and it was beginning to lose me. When this scene came up, I laughed so hard, I peed my pants. No movie has ever done that to me before. When the project began, "Going Berserk" was supposed to be the SCTV movie. I remember it being announced. As time went on, the cast was whittled down To John Candy, Joe Flaherty & Eugene Levy. There also must have been a regime change at Universal, while it was being shot, because upon being released, it was shown in nearly ZERO theaters. When watching this a second time, I listened to the theme song (which actually flaunts how incomprehensible the plot is, in the lyrics), relaxed my logic nerve and figured out what was going on. Aside from the aforementioned routine, "Going Berserk" has many other hilarious scenes to recommend it. This is almost a 3 Stooges flick, except it's much funnier. Director David Steinberg has razor sharp timing, and he must have been laughing all through this. As for Candy, who's basically in charge here, he has NEVER been funnier. With all the plot devices and explanatory scenes thrown out the window, he absolutely runs wild. Flaherty and Levy follow him effortlessly. There is a plot, but it's a plot like "Animal House" had a plot, and yeah, the script is uneven, and a little slow to start. Once you know this, however, you can well appreciate the full SCTV style craziness that transpires. It IS stupid, but it's stupid on purpose, and you need to remember that when you see it. DO see it, and discover for yourself, if it has the funniest scene of all time in it.