Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy

Not to be confused with the 2003 TV seriesBrain Candyor the 2020 albumBrain Candy.

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kelly Makin
Written by	Norm Hiscock Bruce McCulloch Kevin McDonald Mark McKinney Scott Thompson
Produced by	Lorne Michaels
Starring	Dave Foley Bruce McCulloch Kevin McDonald Mark McKinney Scott Thompson
Cinematography	David A. Makin
Edited by	Christopher Cooper
Music by	Craig Northey
Production company	Lakeshore Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	April 12, 1996(1996-04-12)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$2,640,536

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candyis a 1996 Canadiancomedy filmwritten by and starring the Canadian comedy troupeThe Kids in the Hall.Directed byKelly Makinand filmed inToronto,it followed the five-season run of their television seriesThe Kids in the Hall,which had been successful in bothCanadaand theUnited States.

Premise and characters

The five-man team plays all of the major characters and many of the bit parts. The film was written by four of the five members of the troupe, along withNorm Hiscock;the troupe's fifth member,Dave Foley,had quit the troupe and was already working as a cast member onNewsRadio,but was contractually obligated to be in the film.Foley also plays fewer characters in the film than do the other four members.Brendan FraserandJaneane Garofalohave cameos in the film, Garofalo's being almost entirely absent from the final cut.

The film is about the introduction of a powerfulantidepressant,Gleemonex. The drug is rushed into production to help the ailing Roritor Pharmaceuticals and becomes an overnight media sensation. Those involved in the early stages of Gleemonex – the scientists, marketing arm and several early users – are followed, right up through the troublingcoma-like side effect of being stuck in their happiest memory.

• Marv (Dave Foley) is Roritor's assistant. Despite their seemingly close relationship, he actually dislikes Roritor to the point that his happiest memory is urinating into his Boss 's latte (Roritor's happiest moment, ironically, is drinking the concoction).
• Alice (Bruce McCulloch) is a fellow scientist and apparent love interest of Chris. She eventually watches from a distance as he slips away into celebrity.
• Grivo (Bruce McCulloch) is a rock star famous for his bleak and pessimistic rock as well as a general indifference toward his audience, fame, and music. After taking the drug, Grivo switches to jangly, upbeatpop music;his new song "Happiness Pie" becomes an anthem for the post-Gleemonex world and wins a "World Music Video Award" for it (much to the disappointment of the former fans of his moody angst music). McCulloch loosely based Grivo's image off heavy metal singerGlenn Danzig.
• Chris Cooper (Kevin McDonald,Jason Barr, younger) is the inventor of the drug and main protagonist of the film. He is motivated by the clumsysuicideof his father (also played by McDonald) to create a cure forclinical depressionbut quickly gets swept up in the resulting fame.
• Don Roritor (Mark McKinney) heads Roritor Pharmaceuticals, founded on his invention of the drug Stummies (likely a play onTumsorRolaids). He has a close but contentious relationship with his spineless assistant, Marv. (Roritor's speaking style is openly derived from McKinney's impersonation of producerLorne Michaels.)
• Mrs. Hurdicure (Scott Thompson) is an old woman who initially is severely depressed and an early test subject for Gleemonex (referred to as "Patient 957" ). Her happiest memory is shown to be a brief and obligatoryChristmasvisit from her son, played byDave Foley.The drug quickly whips her out of the depression, but she inevitably becomes the first victim of its side effect. She is also the test subject for its antidote, a depressant.
• Wally Terzinsky (Scott Thompson) is a husband, father, andclosetedhomosexual.Wallymasturbatestogay pornography,frequents publicbath houses,and was sexually active with men during his military service – but remains unaware of hissexual orientation.He is prescribed Gleemonex by a frustrated therapist, (Dave Foley) ( "You're gay. I know it, your family knows it...dogsknow it! "). His happiest memory is ahomoeroticArmymission fantasized by Wally while being chewed out by hisdrill instructor(Mark McKinney). Wally finds himself standing considerably closer to his drill instructor when through fantasizing. Shortly after this, he finally admits (via song and dance) that he is in fact, homosexual.

Some characters from the television series appear briefly inBrain Candy.Among those who do are the "white trashcouple, "the cops, Cancer Boy (see below), talk show host Nina Bedford (introduced in the show as" Nina Spudkneeyak "), Raj & Lacey, Melanie, Bellini, and the bigoted cab driver (who narrates the film).

• Ginny Hurdicure (Kathryn Greenwood)
• Raymond's kid (Amy Smith)
• Raymond's kid (Lachlan Murdoch)
• Cooper's groupie (Nicole de Boer)
• Cooper's groupie (Krista Bridges)
• Wally Jr. (Christopher Redman)

Controversy

The movie received negative feedback due to the Cancer Boy character. Originally appearing in the final episode of the TV show, in a sketch that satirized the idea of being as offensive as possible, Cancer Boy is played byBruce McCullochdressed in a bald cap, with pale white makeup, using a wheelchair. He relays depressing information with a cheerful smile and releases a hit pop single entitled "Whistle When You're Low". Many found the character to be in exceedingly poor taste.Paramount Pictureshad fought extensively with the troupe to cut the character from the film, to no avail. The group has expressed some regret over their hardline position years later, feeling the battle left Paramount bitter and reluctant to fully market the film.

Reception

OnRotten Tomatoes,it has a score of 44% based on reviews from 39 critics.OnMetacritic,it has a score of 55% based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Siskel and Ebertwere split, and they had a heated disagreement overBrain Candyon theirweekly review show:Gene Siskelgave the movie three-and-a-half stars, calling the movie "audacious, clever, very funny" and predicted it would become a midnightcult film;Roger Ebertclaimed that he did not laugh once during the screening and found it "awful, terrible, dreadful, stupid, idiotic, unfunny, labored, forced, painful, bad." Janet MaslinofThe New York Timescalled the film "[nothing] more than a sloppy showcase for the group's costume-changing tricks." Edward Guthmann atThe San Francisco Chronicle,calledBrain Candy"a splendid showcase for their diverse, frisky talents."

It was also nominated for Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy at the1996 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards,but lost toBio-Dome.

The film suffered poorbox officereturns.This was turned into aplot devicein the opening episode of the 2022Amazon Prime Videoseries.As the first episode opens, the movie is under a curse because of its poor sales. With the purchase of aVHScopy at agarage sale,the movie finallybreaks even;the curse is lifted, the Kids are exhumed, and the new series begins.

The Kids themselves have expressed mixed feelings over the finished product, most notably on the behind-the-scenes DVD of their 2000 tour,Same Guys, New Dresses.The troupe took a four-year hiatus afterBrain Candy's release, though the break-up was already in motion even before filming was underway.

In 2014, the troupe reunited to perform a live reading of the film's screenplay at theToronto Sketch Comedy Festival.

In 2023, Barry Hertz ofThe Globe and Mailnamed the film as one of the 23 best Canadian comedy films ever made.

Alternate title and ending

An original working title for the movie wasThe Drug,which is what Gleemonex is extensively referred to during the course of the film (in fact, "Brain Candy" is never actually heard in the film). Bruce McCulloch came up withBrain Candyat the studio's request for something more marketable.

Two endings were filmed, with the relatively more upbeat conclusion making the final cut. In the alternate version,Dave Foleyplays a crazed activist who leads a militant movement against Gleemonex. Chris Cooper, unable to cope with the mayhem his drug has created, decides to take it himself, and ends up lapsing into a coma. The unused ending has not been officially released, but a leaked workprint was widely traded among fans on the internet during the late 1990s.

Soundtrack

Brain Candy - Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album
Released	April 9, 1996
Genre	Movie Soundtrack
Length	52:28
Label	Matador

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

A soundtrack album was released the Tuesday prior to the film's release. It consists of music from the film, interspersed with dialog.

1. "Some Days It's Dark" - Death Lurks (McCulloch as Grivo withOdds) (with film dialog)
2. "Painted Soldiers" -Pavement
3. "Happiness" -Matthew Sweet
4. "Happiness Pie" - Death Lurks
5. "Six Dick Pimp" -Liz Phair(followed by dialog leading into next track)
6. "I'm Gay" -Scott Thompson&Joe Sealy
7. "Spiraling Shape" -They Might Be Giants
8. "Swoon" -Pell Mell
9. "Birthday Cake" -Cibo Matto
10. "Butts Wigglin" -The Tragically Hip
11. "Postal Blowfish" -Guided by Voices
12. "Pablo and Andrea" -Yo La Tengo
13. "How To Play Your Internal Organs Overnight" -Stereolab
14. "Nata di Marzo" -Pizzicato Five
15. "Eat My Brain" -Odds
16. "Long Dark Twenties" -Paul Bellini
17. "Having an Average Weekend" -Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet

External links

• Kids in the Hall: Brain CandyatIMDb