Monday, January 12, 2009

Strange Brew

The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew. 1983 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Max Von Sydow, Paul Dooley, Lynne Griffin, Angus MacInnes, Tom Harvey, Douglas Campbell, Mel Blanc
Directors: Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas
Buy Strange Brew at Amazon.

In typical SCTV fashion, the movie opens with Leo the Lion apparently sedated and unable to roar for the MGM logo card, and the brothers McKenzie (Thomas & Moranis) introducing their ill-fated movie from the set of Great White North called Mutants of 2051 A.D. that they put together. When the movie audience riots, Bob and Doug escape, having given their dad's (voiced by Blanc) beer money to a father with two upset children.

Back at home, they run out of beer. Bob and Doug decide to put a live mouse in a beer bottle in an attempt to get free Elsinore beer from the local party store (which really exists). Referred to the Elsinore brewery by a no nonsense clerk. Bob and Doug are given jobs inspecting the bottles for mice, a position where they take the opportunity to drink lots of free beer, and later, surprising their parents with a van full of Elsinore product.

Brewmesister Smith (Von Sydow, a million miles from The Seventh Seal) is perfecing a secret plan to take over the world by putting a drug in Elsinore beer that renders the consumer docile, and making him or her attack others when stimulated by a musical cue. Smith tests his experimental beer at the neighboring mental institution, which is connected to the brewery by underground tunnels.

Also, the former brewery owner died under mysterious circumstances, and his daughter Pam (Griffin) was given control of the entire brewery after turning 21. Pam's uncle Claude (Dooley) has married her widowed mother, and is not willing to give up his recently-gained control of Elsinore. Bob and Doug find out about these plans after rescuing Pam from a malfunctioning security gate, becoming friends with her. While playing an arcade game in the lounge, they also hear about the true story of Pam's father's death.

And how does former hockey great Jean "Rosie" LeRose (MacInnes), who has been committed to the asylum and is under Smith's spell, fit into these plans?

This movie is an old favorite, as I've loved SCTV and the McKenzie brothers in particular since childhood. Highly recommended.

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