Porky Hospital

We might well ask why anyone bothered to make INTERN ACADEMY when we have SCRUBS, but so be it. Dave Thomas, formerly of SCTV, directed and costars. Dan Ackroyd is also aboard in a small role, along with Dave Foley, late of KIDS IN THE HALL. A bunch of generic young interns get a taste of hospital life at a crumbling facility. Typical hijinks ensue, including a bawdy Christmas party and an incredibly gross organ fight that ends with something very wet and very squishy splattering all over Thomas' face. The climax is a direct steal from POLICE ACADEMY, but that's OK, too. The actors playing the interns are likable enough, and the females in the cast are all drop-dead gorgeous and quick to get drunk and down and dirty and sometimes even naked (which is the way I remember my student years working as an orderly at a mid-size hospital). INTERN ACADEMY, called WHITE COATS on TV, definitely is no SCRUBS. But it will do in a pinch. It's like watching one of those mindless winter ski movies, especially the one with Lee Majors.

The St. Albert's Teaching Hospital, considered the worst in the public health system and administrated by the corrupt Dr. Cyrill Kipp (Dan Aykroyd), receives a new group of interns: the clumsy Mike Bonnert (Peter Oldring), whose parents are prominent doctors and forced him to study in medical school; the wolf Dale Dodd (Pat Kelly), who has come to the hospital to meet women and falls in love for the nurse Cynthia Skyes (Lynda Boyd); Marlon Thomas (Viv Leacock), who like to play pranks with his mates; Mira Towers (Ingrid Kavelaars), who aims to be a great surgeon; Christine Lee (Jane McLean), a very efficient student and promising doctor; and Mitzi Cole (Christine Chatelain), who works as stripper to pay for her medical school and becomes Mike's girlfriend. Leaded by Sarah Calder (Carly Pope), the group spends the year learning how to become medical doctors in an environment of lots of confusion.

I loved the unknown and underrated "Intern Academy". The silly story s hilarious, with many politically incorrect gags and jokes about urban legends in a public hospitals, like for example, the corrupt administrator that sells the equipment to raise money; or the student with sperm in her mouth; or the colostomy bag exploding in the face of an intern; or the arrogant doctor; or the lack of respect with the corpse of a John Doe; or the man that arrives with a doll in his rectum; or the promiscuous woman with herpes and other sexual diseases kissing the guy she has just met in the waiting room. There are many other jokes, but one of my favorites is the stupid Ukrainian charwoman that unplugs the life support system of patients to plug the floor polisher. Another one that I laughed a lot is when the clumsy Mike Bonnert goes to the waiting room where three families are waiting news about their beloved relative and Mike commits a series of mistakes. The team of actresses is extremely beautiful and sexy and the actors are very funny. I did not feel the 98 minutes running time; actually I expected to have more. I really recommend this movie for days where the viewer is down or upset to relax. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os Estagiários" ("The Interns")

Found this while searching for a quick flick on Amazon Prime Video

Reminded me of Scrubs from the jump, even the set looked identical. If you were a fan of Scrubs you will no doubt appreciate the tone of the movie. The acting is ok with some big names like Dan Aykroyd, Dave Thomas and Dave Foley.

It is a little corny at times and some scenes look like the punch lines were funnier on paper and failed to hit on screen but again nothing too bad. Worth the time if you have it to spare

This movie will be dismissed for political reasons. There are a few laughs at the expense of characters that certain reviewers want to see only in an elevated light. But Intern Academy as a film improves as it goes along. The look is at first kind of washed out, but eventually there are some more pleasing sets. I had heard this was shot on video, but I could not tell as I watched it opening day. Purely, I supported it because Dave Thomas deserves a hit, and he has the same birthday as me. Also, I appreciate his critical views of the media in his interviews for this film. I do think that he miscast himself a little bit in this film. Although Danny is shown in his requisite sunglasses and banging a drum in one scene, he and Thomas should have switched characters. He might be more believable as a cold authority figure teaching students and rattling off lists of maladies, whereas Dave Thomas is best as kind of a weasel or prankster or buffoon - which is especially evident when he runs. Dave Foley is right on the money as a smug, egotistical heart specialist, though it is jarring to see him in gray hair - especially because it is believable.

The movie likes to wallow, and the organ storage fight is a bit unbelievable, as is the mouth examination scene which contains Maurey Chaykin's excellent cameo performance. That character could have been more central, accidentally embarrassing people. Even though the girl who is embarrassed would have known better. Good enough, and especially welcome as a Canadian film that is just funny and not pretentious.

I was expecting a lot more comedy with Dave Thomas, Dave Foley and Dan Ackroyd, but instead watched a simple entertaining movie done with a light atmosphere. It certainly makes fun of being an intern and will make you laugh out a few times. What it isn't is a laugh a minute.

Certainly the actors who play the set of interns the movie is mostly about all have bright futures ahead of them. Most notably Christine Chatelain, Jane McLean, and Peter Oldring. I'd be remiss if I didn't add the head nurse - Linda Boyd. Of course the three stars I named at the start of this review all did fantastic jobs. The others certainly had their moments of comedy.

Everyone is excellent in their parts and while it's not an overly dynamic movie, it's worth seeing with some popcorn when you're in a mood for light comedy.