Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996)

I think by now it's well-established that I completely adore Kids in the Hall. When the show ended after its fifth season due to various outside projects and hugely inflated egos, it was able to have a finale in the form of full-length feature Brain Candy. The film combines several well-known characters and sketch themes with new protagonists, weaving together a cautionary tale about a reserved scientist (Kevin McDonald) who invents a pill to cure depression.

He soon catapults to stardom with the backing of powerful pharmaceutical CEO Don Roritor (Mark McKinney), leaving his assistant scientists (Scott Thompson, Bruce McDonald, and also Mark McKinney) in the dust until he finds out there's a serious side effect to his creation. Everyone plays a range of side characters- including a callous cab driver, even-toned rock star, homosexual family man in denial, and dedicated executive assistant- and unfortunately my favorite Kid Dave Foley isn't in it too much since by this time he'd started on Newsradio. Sigh.

Anyway. I know they were all having various problems with one another while making this movie, so it's a bittersweet project, but generally I find it a good end to the show and a very enjoyable movie. There are plenty of nods to the tv series in various side characters and in the idea of multiple roles itself. Like the show, this is a dark and surreal comedy, with much of its humor derived from how awful depression is, how over-medicated modern society is, and how ridiculous these people are in general. It's certainly uneven, but then again so was the show. The Kids often like to substitute pure weirdness for actual comedy, something I find endearing but many others find alienating.

For me, Brain Candy is filled with enough delightful tidbits of hilarious off-kilter dialogue and wacky moments to thoroughly entertain and adequately sate my thirst for KITH shenanigans, along with a decent and surprisingly cohesive story propelled primarily by some fun performances from Kevin McDonald and Mark McKinney. On one level it's an exaggerated but topical commentary on drug companies' attitudes toward their customers, and on another it's just a goofy explosion of both new and familiar characters with a lot of surreal and unexpected jokes. Everyone is great in it, from Bruce McCulloch's unhappy musician to Scott Thompson's tea-pouring grandma to Dave Foley's gruff son (who gets in my favorite line- "So I hear Dad's dead. Hey! Is that eggnog?"). There's even a cameo from Brendan Fraser! Awesome!

4/5

Pair This Movie With: Dave Foley's The Wrong Guy is a good match in ridiculous, surreal humor. Or check out KITH's recent miniseries Death Comes to Town. Or if you want a more serious take on depression and medication, Prozac Nation is interesting.