Brain Donors (1992)

I hadn't even heard of this movie before but John Turturro is there and we were in the mood for something light. Brain Donors is a remake of the Marx Brothers comedy A Night at the Opera, which sadly I have not seen (Duck Soup is the only Marx Bros film I've seen so far). Also I saw it awhile ago and don't remember it all too well, so this will be short. Roland T Flakfizer (John Tuturro), an ambulance-chasing lawyer, teams up with handyman Jacques (Bob Nelson) and cab driver Rocco (Mel Smith) in an effort to become director of a new ballet company founded by his old friend, recently widowed Lillian Oglethorpe (Nancy Marchand). Her pretentious and greedy attorney Edmund Lazlo (John Savidant) wants to take over the ballet company himself. What ensues is an extremely silly and over the top battle of one-upmanship between Lazlo and Flakfizer. One hires "the greatest ballet dancer in the world" while the other works to get an undiscovered but top-notch performer to take his place. There's a ton of hi-jinks, sabotage, and about 5 jokes packed into every minute.

I don't know how this compares to the original film, but I do think that the main three guys did a great job emulating their Marx counterparts. Turturro embodies the Groucho-esque role with unceasing dead-pan quips while Bob Nelson's physicality, terseness, and prop-laden coat easily recall Harpo. Mel Smith is the least ludicrous of the three, and sort of grounds them. While the performances were pretty great, the script itself was hit or miss. Like many a Zucker film, there is little breathing room between jokes, meaning some of them don't really deliver. It's not really a huge deal, though. These guys set out to pay homage to a beloved comedy team whose style of humor is often considered a thing of the past. It was a risk to try and bring this kind of comedy to the present, and I think in general it is effective here. It's not the funniest thing ever, but really enjoyable and silly in a way most films made today aren't.

3.5/5

For more details, here's a great review at Radiator Heaven