Strangers With Candy, a prequel to the comedy series of the same name on Comedy Central in the late 1990s, is a riot! Starring Amy Sedaris, the film was co-written by Stephen Colbert and directed by Paul Dinello.
Strangers tells the story of Sedaris' character, Jerri Blank, who is desperate to reconnect with her family after her release from prison. She discovers her father is in a coma, her mother is dead and she has a half-brother who is a twit. Convinced doing "something special" will help bring her Daddy out of a coma, Blank goes back to high school and enters the Science Fair competition. Her path to that competition is incredibly dysfunctional, weirdly warped and constantly entertaining.
Oh, yeah. It's also really, really funny. Like everything Sedaris does, Strangers is clever and smart, even when it looks like it isn't. Compared to other TV shows and skits that have been turned into movies, Strangers With Candy is a gem.
9 comments:
I love Sedaris (both of them ... Amy and David). This was an awesome show on tv and I've been meaning to check out this movie that lasted a very, very short time in the theaters (only one theater got it up here).
I'll have to check this out now. Thanks man. BTW, I saw a directors cut of "Superman II" in Target today. Have you seen this? It looks pretty sweet! I may have to put it on my Christmas list.
Jedi: I have not seen the director's cut, but I saw the Mrs. checking out my post the other day, so I'm pretty sure it's gonna be under my tree.
Strangers is a fluid beginning, middle and end movie, but it feels sorta like several sketches put together. But really well put together.
Oops. I saw that you posted on that super huge box set but I didn't see one about this particular one. It looks like they've added in a bunch of lost footage including scenes with Brando. Make sure it's in your super duper box set cause it looks worth seeing.
I've seen it at Target for 20 bucks. Being a tightwad, I dunno if I can brign myself to shell out that much. Is it worth that price? What would you pay, having seen it?
Chris: I really don't buy movies, because I kinda have a thing about not seeing movies more than once (with a couple of exceptions). I thought it was very funny, though, if you like Sedaris' schtick and Colbert's persona. Which I do.
(But, I wouldn't pay 20 bucks for it.)
Wait, explain this "not seeing movies more than once" thing. That sounds a little odd for a Film Geek.
Jedi: For some reason, I've never enjoyed seeing movies twice. Some movies, to me at least, are so enjoyable that I prefer to remember them as I saw them that first time. There are exceptions, of course, like really dense comedies where you pick up something new every time you watch it. But almost without exception, I'm a watch int once sort of guy.
I liked the show a lot, so I'll have to see the movie sooner ot later.
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