Release Date: 07 April 1999 in USA
Rated: R
Runtime: 22
Genres: Comedy
Director: Peter Lauer, Juan José Campanella, Dan Dinello, Danny Leiner, Adam Bernstein
Cast: Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Greg Hollimon, Deborah Rush, Amy Sedaris, Larc Spies
For three glorious seasons, from 1999-2001, comedians Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris gave us Strangers with Candy. The show featured a 47-year old self-described “boozer, user and loser” Jerri Blank, who returned to high school as a freshman after spending 32 years as a runaway. Work as a prostitute and time in jail had done nothing to dispel Jerri’s table manners, questionable morals, and overworked sexuality. The creators combined that with a format similar to the After School Specials of the 1970s, and had a cult-scale hit on their hands.
Strangers with Candy the movie has lost none of the luster of the show. Most of the same actors are back in roles they helped to create, and inspired cameos from the likes of Allison Janney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Sir Ian Holm (I kid you not) give the film a kind of suppressed hilarity like that of a study hall laughing fit.
The plot takes us back to the beginning. Jerri returns home to find her father in a coma brought on by her mother’s death and her own disappearance 32 years ago. In order to reawaken him, Jerri joins with some of the school’s other misfits to create a science fair project sure to make her “special.” Meanwhile, Principal Blackman (the wonderful Gregory Hollimon) has misappropriated school funds to pay for his gambling debts, and needs to assure a science fair victory. He imports Roger Beekman (Matthew Broderick at his oiliest), a nine-time former winner, and suffice it to say, things do not go as planned.
Though some of the jokes are a tad on a subtle or repetitive side, Strangers with Candy is an excellent way to spend an evening. I mean, where else are you going to find comedy that’s so dumb it’s actually smart?
