Ho perso la testa per un cervello

THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS (1983) ***1/2 Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, David Warner, Paul Benedict, Merv Griffin, Sissy Spacek (voice only). Martin is hilarious as brilliant neuro surgeon of the screw-top transplant, Dr. Hfuhruhurr (pronounced as it sounds!) who has brains on his mind and a "devil woman" wife (the sultry Turner loving every minute of it) as he falls in love with a brain in a jar (voice supplied by the melancholic Spacek). Part Mad Scientist spoof, part Marx Bros./3 Stooges dialogue all parts brilliantly goofy and some wickedly funny moments. Best line: "Into the mud Scum Queen!" Get that cat out of here!! Merv Griffin has a cameo in one truly stunning plot twist.

Here is another Carl Reiner-directed "farce" that also stars Steve Martin (the two collaborated before in the '80s in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"). This is the best of that duo with a lot of laugh-out loud scenes. There are tons of gags, both obvious and subtle. In fact, I think is one of Martin's funniest performances. Kathleen Turner, his co-star here, played a similar role in another black comedy "Serial Mom." There, too, she played a woman who appeared to be nice on the outside but was evil inside. Turner also liked to show a lot of skin in those '80s flicks, which included "Body Heat."

I had remembered this as a strictly light comedy but was surprised when I viewed it again this year and heard all the sex jokes. Reiner turned out to be a dirty old man but he write and direct some very funny movies. It's unusual for a comedy to be rated "R," but that was the appropriate rating. If you know and don't care if its a bit raunchy, this is a very funny movie.

What ever happened to Steve Martin's talent? In the name of becoming a Hollywood "Player", Mr. Martin sold his soul to the suits in the business and thereby squandered his true talent: wacky, irreverent comedy. The fact that "The Man with Two Brains" didn't do well at the box office probably made the studio heads decide that Martin's talents were not selling. Mr. Martin therefore may have panicked in some way and decided to "sell-out" and do the dreadful treacle that he did later and keeps on doing like "Parenthood", "Roxanne" (a particularly pretentious entry of his), "Leap of Faith" (the most blatant of of bids for the ridiculously overrated "Oscar") and the forthcoming (as of this writing) "Cheaper by the Dozen". In "The Man With Two Brains", Steve Martin is so on target in virtually all his scenes that the movie becomes truly inspired. Like the great Marx Brothers' movies of the early to mid 30's, he creates a universe all his own. The movie has it's own unique rhythms and is consistent throughout. He and the rest of the great cast never get sentimental. They keep the whole thing amazingly light and truly (God forgive me for using this word, but it applies )Zany. The entire cast has to be noted for keeping up with Steve Martin including Kathleen Turner giving a great comic-villanous performance, Sissy Spacek as the voice of his beloved "brain" complete with a bizarre name and, most notably popping up COMPLETELY unexepectedly, MERV GRIFFIN! His entrance into the movie simply pushes the whole thing into comic overdrive. There's a number of great comic set pieces and almost all of them work brilliantly. My favorite has to be Martin's meeting up with a knockout blond prostitute. Let's just say that she's got a great body but her voice is....well, just wait and see. A truly great comedy from a man who could've been one of the great enduring comic geniuses of our time but who instead sold out and lost his calling. A tragedy...

The Man With Two Brains is definitely one of Martin's best films to date. This film makes you laugh from the git-go, and does not let up until the credits are rolling. Ok...ok...the film is pretty stupid, but it was meant to be that way. Ok...ok...the film had a weak plot...who cares! Martin put on a great comedy act, his best since The Jerk. I've seen this film five times and still laugh every time.

Policeman: "That woman's not drunk, she's dead!" Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr: "Oh, i better get her to a cemetary right away!"

Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: The only time we doctors should accept death is when it's caused by our own incompetence.

Shameless madcap farce from Director Carl Reiner (The Jerk, All of Me, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, That Old Feeling) is part romance melodrama, part sex comedy, part thriller, part medical drama, and all silliness. Yet it uses this silliness to touch on a fairly risque philosophical issue - what exactly makes us human? Kathleen Turner is in temptress mode as Martin's new wife who lives to torment men, and forces Martin to seek comfort elsewhere... with a brain in a jar!

Anne Uumellmahaye: I don't think there's a girl floating in a jar anywhere who's as happy as I am.

You have to admire the over-the-top and on-the-edge comedy pairing of Reiner and Martin which produces genuine hilarity, letting-loose fun and general enjoyment for a nice friday night hour and a half (good length too!).

Two thumbs way-up!