SEE THIS MOVIE

Maya's Movie #35



I just watched Strangers With Candy on opening night with a full house of fans. Needless to say, the audience was roaring with laughter throughout the whole film; I estimate that I didn’t hear about ¼ of the dialog because it was obscured by excessive laughter. The woman sitting behind me was clearly unfamiliar with the show, and I think she can safely be considered a new fan – she was gasping for air and kept saying, “Stop! Stop!” It’s encouraging that people who aren’t previous fans can appreciate the humor, but I noticed that it’s at “rotten” on the tomatometer. Apparently the humor is a little more skewed than most people can handle.

The movie is basically an extended version of the TV show. Almost all the same actors – the only major differences are the father, the brother, and most of the high school students (except for Tamela). Only a couple jokes are recycled from the show – most of the dialog is completely new. Some of the situations are familiar, but have a new spin (for example, Noblet dumps Jellineck at the beginning of the movie, and this subplot is one of the best parts of the movie). Another spin is the faculty steam room and the teacher’s lounge – even if you’re familiar with them from the show, there are a couple surprises in store. All the trademark insane touches are there (everything hanging on the walls behind people is worth reading, like the table of elements in the science room – pay attention). There’s also a steady stream of famous people stepping in with small roles. This movie is so worth going to, and I’m going to see it again (at an earlier show) to catch the lines I missed. It’s one of those films where you kind of stop laughing towards the end because you’re just tired out from so much laughing. Amy Sedaris and all of her friends are brilliant.