Going Berserk

John Bourgignon (John Candy) and Chick Leff (Joe Flaherty) from Melonville run a limo service. Their friend Sal DiPasquale (Eugene Levy) is a B-movie producer who wants to film John's wedding. John is engaged to Nancy Reese (Alley Mills), the daughter of Congressman Ed Reese (Pat Hingle). Ed is running for president and prosecuting cult leader Rev Sun Yi Day. John gets arrested for fighting in a male strip club. He is forced to go on the run handcuffed to criminal Jerome Willy Muhammed (Ernie Hudson). Sun Yi Day tries to hypnotize John into killing the congressman.

This relies a lot on the comic charms of John Candy. It really doesn't have much more than that. It's very uneven which is similar to SCTV itself. The movie kinda works with Candy. Flaherty is a good sidekick when he's actually on the screen. The movie is disjointed. The plot meanders a lot. It does have some outrageous funny moments.

This is raunchy comedy at its best... "I'd like to sing a song, with my d!ck in my hand, just for you honey". Before American Pie this was the epitome of teen comedy. Home of one of the greatest comic spectacles of all time "Kung Fu You" this movie easily wraps you up and will not let you go until you hear Blue Moon at the end. This film also serves as one of the best times a song at the opening credits was actually well done. If you can find it, I suggest that you purchase it.

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.

John Candy. Need we say more? He is the main reason you should see this film. Most people don't realize how gifted he was as an actor. Witness him changing from poor slob to horny jerk. Just a simple(subtle) facial change and off we go. There are many great bits in this movie and many really dumb bits. The best moments for me are the KUNG FU U scenes as well as the great moment when John(in a trance) goes up on stage and talks about how much he loves his girlfriend-that is how much he and his genitals love his girlfriend. I'm sure reading this you might think this sequence sounds really crude. It is, but it is also very funny mainly because it is John Candy doing this bit. The story in general is pretty lame and Eugene Levy and Joe Flaherty(both SCTV alumni with Candy) are not given enough to do in the film. Levy has his moments, especially filming the wedding at the end(think Rod Serling) and the great scene when he is talking to his mother on the phone. Overall a good movie if you have had a tough day and need to put your brain on stupid. I give this one 4 out of 10.

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...