The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew

I don't see how anyone can dislike this movie. It is laugh out loud fun from beginning to end and there is not a single scene that is not hilarious. This team sure shows what a positive affect alcohol has on Canadian comedians. I would have to say this is the best movie ever made and I give it an A++ for effort, hilarity, and genius, eh. The reason it is so great is that it is incomparable to any other movie of its comedy genre. It is a journey into the world of two brothers who have never been apart, and their adventures. While trying to get beer for their father, they stumble upon Elsinore Brewery, and get jobs checking for rodents in the bottles. While there, they discover some strange things are happening at the brewery. It is a must see for all ages.

I have to take exception to imdb user "dwpoller" who touts this movie as being "one of the most un-funny 1 1/2 hour stretches" of a movie. Having never seen the SCTV skit until after the movie's release, I found myself rolling on the floor at the Canadian stereotypes from hell, known simply as the MacKenzie Brothers. Being 1/2 Canadian myself, I never once felt offended by the somewhat negative stereotypes. (i.e. ice hockey watching, doughnut slamming, beer swilling half wits.) But rather, I was able to laugh at myself and my other Canadian bretheren through this VERY FUNNY movie.

OK, ok. So it didn't win any major awards, nor should it have. "Strange Brew" is not that kind of movie. You have to know going in that this is not Academy award winning materiel. Oh, and guys, don't bring the wives in to watch this either, they won't get it. (For the same reason they don't get the Three Stooges) You just can't explain why it's so funny, it just is.

3 1/2 stars out of 5.

"How's it goin', eh". Those of us blessed to live within the TV reception area of the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) had been privy to Bob & Doug on SCTV long before this movie was released. The running gag on SCTV was that Bob & Doug wandered into the studio one day, the star of a live talkshow was absent and the station manager threw the brothers on stage to fill the dead air. They were a hit and soon were given their own show-within-a-show called "The Great White North". In short order they demanded star treatment as they understood it and soon the stage was surrounded by cases of beer, boxes of donuts and the guys had a campstove to cook Canadian bacon on. Classic. Each show they would have their 'topic of the day' and discuss important issues like 'snow routes', bottled beer verus canned and other things Canadian. You just can't help but love these innocent buffoons. This was the basis of Strangebrew. As silly comedies go, this one is a benchmark. No swearing, hilariously cheesy effects and bathroom humor that is actually funny and not disgusting (see American Pie if you want disgusting). What amazes me is that EVERY single scene with Bob & Doug is funny. Some scenes are truly classic. The dialogue and nuance of this film is so easy to imitate you'll find yourself doing it with friends who have also shared this gem of a film and laughing yourself silly. ("Did you see the way she was looking at me...") See this film, you'll thank me, eh.

Being a former Canadian national, people ask me, "Have you seen this movie?" The answer is, "You bet!" Fact is, I've got this movie almost memorized.

There have been so many "dumb-guy" movies out there, from "Night At The Roxbury" to "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back", but none live up to the true campiness of "Strange Brew". It features stupid people, but the movie doesn't become stupid. It set the mold for those movies. Plus, it satirizes filmmaking itself. Very few movies are able to do that without going into the "anything for a laugh" style of the Mel Brooks films or "National Lampoon's 'Loaded Weapon 1'". With satirical films, it's either feast or famine. "Strange Brew" finds a nice balance. Can you imagine? Shakespearian drama in a dumb-guy movie? A bold maneuver that obviously paid off.

Max von Sydow must have either needed employment, or wanted to do a comedy. Paul Dooley gets to break out of his typecasting of playing intelligent, father-figure roles by playing a complete dunderhead for once. Once again, bold ploys that paid off. I wish I could have seen Lynne Griffin headline other movies. She's good. I know she guested in other venues, but I can't seem to find them on video.

Interestingly enough, I happened to see "Strange Brew" action figures in a semi-recent trip to the toy store(August 2001). The twenty-year anniversary won't occur for two more years, and yet, here they are. They're NOT action figures. Bob and Doug are frozen in the seated position, and the only things you can bend on them are their elbows. Instead of the Kung Fu grip, it's more like the Elsinore grip. I'm surprised you can separate them from their couch.

All in all, this is one of those movies where you can sit back and be entertained without having to turn your brain off.

The last time I saw "Strange Brew" was when it appeared on one of the Canadian Pay TV channels...and I hated it. It was chaotic, confusing, silly, and dumb. I mean, using music and drugged beer to force mental patients to fight while playing hockey? Some skinny woman's father coming back as a ghost and using a videogame to speak to people? A flying dog? I dismissed it.

But now, with the fullness of time and maturity, I've watched it again and I can say with confidence that it's STILL chaotic, confusing, silly, and dumb...but it's also hilarious!

This movie captures the sort of ad hoc, "yeah, whatever" style of SCTV, which could get dull over time, but the hosers have managed to draw it out for 90 minutes by putting in a lot of rich detail (what confused me as a child were the references to Hamlet, mainly), endlessly quotable dialogue, and scenes that are just plain funny (I particularly like the nurses arguing about whose responsibility it is to remove dead patients from their beds). I usually find "dumb" humour annoying, but Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis are so GOOD -- almost subtle -- at being dumb, and so lovable at the same time, that even the fart/booze/puke jokes became funny.

And what's more, the movie is WEIRD. If anybody can explain why Hosehead the dog ROLLS up the edge of the roof, please let me know, because it's giving me nightmares. And am I the only one who's noticed pointed musical references to Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" (when they first see Elsinore Brewery, and when Rosie and Pam are reunited again, the score sounds almost EXACTLY like similar moments in "Young Frankenstein"...but not QUITE exactly...)

I recommend this movie to anybody who can handle some dumb with their wit, in just the right amounts. The DVD features a preview for their upcoming cartoon which looks spectacularly unfunny, so please don't judge them on that.