Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2006 > June > 16 > Entry
Don’t take candy from ‘Strangers’
It’s such a bummer that the combined talents of Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and several alums from Comedy Central’s cult TV comedy “Strangers With Candy” can’t make the movie version work that you almost wish the long-delayed movie had stayed on the shelf, the object of speculation and hope instead of the shambling mess that limps along on the big screen.
The movie, which is set to open in Austin on July 21, has more dead spots than a cemetery, and despite the obvious comedic genius of Sedaris, she’s funnier on David Letterman’s couch than in this movie. Colbert sparks the movie back to life whenever he appears, but flat, minuscule set-pieces and even flatter directing sink the film. Cameos from Sarah Jessica Parker (looking like she crammed her appearance in between In Style photo shoots), Matthew Broderick, Iam Holm (!), Philip Seymour Hoffman (!!) and Allison Janney don’t help much.
The only real bits of amusement are throwaway lines of absurdist dialogue (mostly delivered by the spot-on Colbert). You know your ironic, smarter-than-the-mainstream movie is in big trouble when the biggest laugh is a grown man running down a school hallway in a thong.
Given its talent pool, it’s a pretty major disappointment.
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Dan Schmiedeler
June 22, 2006 5:13 PM | Link to this
Judging from the two reviews above, I’m guessing that Boston Mike WAS a fan of the show, and that Omar Gallaga was NOT. You can bet your sweet a** that I’M going to see it ~ that show was pure genius.
By Boston Mike
June 22, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this
I saw the movie this week and can’t give a credible review because the constant laughter in the theatre made it hard for me to catch all the dialogue. This is a movie that you just have to “get” and if you “get” it, you will not be able to stop laughing. The movie isn’t even brilliant, it’s something more than that… it’s bizarre, a trainwreck, an hour and a half of insanity punctuated by racist, sexist and homophobic comments. The laughter in the theatre was so loud, that the follow-up to punch lines like “na, I’m thinking about pu**y” were completely drowned out in laughter. When Jerri asks Sarah Jessica Parker’s character if she thinks she’s pretty, the theatre was laughing so loudly that nobody even caught Sarah’s response.
Bottom line is this: if you liked the TV show, and many people didn’t, then you’ll LOVE the movie. It’s not for everyone, thankfully.