Strange Brew

By: themovielord
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Canada's most famous hosiers, Bob and Doug McKenzie (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas), get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery, mix it up with a crazy world conquering brewmiester, get caught in a company take over, and crash Oktoberfest with a giant skunk; all the while looking for beer.

It has been a while since I watched this comedy. I was wondering would it hold up on DVD? For those of you that don’t know or remember, Bob and Doug McKenzie are two Canadian brothers who hosted their own TV show on ‘SCTV’ (an early 80’s skit comedy show similar to ‘Saturday Night Live’. They would inform us how to get free beer and how to ruin and movie. They were “hosiers” (jerks/idiots) who had their own TV show, much like that of Mike Meyers’s ‘Wayne’s World’ skit on the early 90’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ show. ‘Strange Brew’ is their full length skit transformed into a movie.

The movie is still very funny. I was surprised though how serious the film takes its self. The Mackenzie Brothers save a rich brewery heiress and become the ink in the oil of a sinister plot to control the world’s beer drinking population with mind altering beer.
Yeah, I know doesn’t sound too serious but it is. I think that is where most modern movies that make that transition from skit show to movie fall flat. The plots don’t work in the real world i.e.: ‘Night at the Roxbury’ and ‘Superstar’. The comedy comes out of these characters surviving and saving the day in the real world. ‘The Coneheads’ did come close, but it had been so long since they had been a part of pop culture that no one really cared. The original ‘Wayne’s World’ is the best example of a serious plot with funny characters. This is funny that the original skit buddy/ low budget TV show with its concept all comes back to the McKenzie Brothers.

There was something disappointing on the DVD. Apparently there was going to be a cartoon that never panned out. Which in the long run was probably a good thing because again why? These characters have been long out of circulation to warrant a show. But the truly disappointing moment came at the old skits from SCTV. Each one had canned laughter and was really really bad. Funny how the same mouse in a bottle skit worked into the film was not lame at all. It was interesting to see that transition from little screen to the big screen.

The movie does have some ridiculously funny moments. This movie is worth the time to sit down and have a good laugh on a cold night. If you loved ‘Wayne’s World’, see the movie that truly inspired it.