11/19/06 Strangers With Candy

Strangers With Candy (2005), directed by Paul Dinello

watched solo; DVD rental (Blockbuster) @ home

Coming off the tails of the cult classic TV show of the same name (actually, I think they waited a bit too long to bring this feature length film to fruition...it may have gotten a bit stale on the shelves), this dark comedy brings back all the usual suspects in base filthy humor of self proclaimed "boozer, user and a loser." If ever you have caught the short-lived, but disturbingly hilarious tales on Comedy Central, of Jerri Blank...you know what I'm talking about. Coming from the twisted comedic minds of Amy Sedaris (sister of acclaimed writer David), Stephen Colbert (yes, we all no where he has ended up..."Daily Show" or "Colbert Report" ring a bell?), and Paul Dinello (who also directed this, but not too sure what else he has gone on to do)...comes this delightfully bizarre trip down memory lane. Sedaris plays Jerri, the 46 year-old ex-con/reformed drug addict/teenage runaway...who after a life of hardened lessons and prison trouble decides to reunite with her long-lost family and return to high school to finish what she never accomplished in graduating. Obviously not in tune with modern day teenage life, her family's odd behaviors, or sanity in general...Jerri stumbles through everyday adolescent mishaps, and tries desperately to fit in. We have all of the band of characters from the beloved TV show returning, including ambiguously gay art teacher Mr. Jellineck (Dinello), his closeted uptight colleague Chuck Noblet (Colbert), gruff yet weird principal Onyx Blackman, and dysfunctional family including her constantly comatose father (Dan Hedaya)...spiced up with a handful of Hollywood notables added to the eccentric cast, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ian Holm, Matthew Broderick (the science fair genius), and Sarah Jessica Parker (the sexually frustrated guidance counselor...actually one of the funnier roles). However, none of these hair-brained roles or plot ideas ever truly make this film worth any laughs...with a film packed with so much talent...and such an long-awaited arrival to the big screen, you would expect more, and I did. Seen as a prequel to the funnier TV show's entries, as I stated before...there was just way too much time off from the show being cancelled and them deciding to dust off the material to make this crap. If you want to see the true awkwardness in Jerri's corrupt humor, you will look into the TV series and not this forgettable installation. Even better, and more obscure of reference...look into the trio's (Sedaris, Dinello and Colbert) other cult classic Comedy Central sketch comedy show "Exit 57" for some early twisted stuff. Also, what I found most fascinating about researching this film is that the Jerri character is based on a real person named Florrie Fisher. Fisher was a motivational speaker to high school students in the 60's & 70's, talking about her past drug addictions and fall into prostitution...which were chronicled in the story/movie "The Lonely Trip Back." Her checkered past was one that was horrible and fascinating, and larger than life...with her mysteriously falling out of the public eye as quickly as she came into it...with her whereabouts/death never truly known. I had no idea that all this dark comedic plotline held some relevance to reality...that's the craziest part of all.

2 out of 5 stars