Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996)

Director:

Kelly Makin

Writers:

Norm Hiscock (writer) &
Bruce McCulloch (writer) ...

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Shove this up your mind

Plot:

A pharmaceutical scientist creates a pill that makes people remember their happiest memory, and although it's successful, it has unfortunate side effects.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Balloon | Harmonica | Cat | Denial

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Dave Foley	...	Marv / Psychiatrist / New guy / Raymond Hurdicure
Bruce McCulloch	...	Alice / Cisco / Grivo / Worm pill scientist / Cop #2 / Cancer boy / White-trash man
Kevin McDonald	...	Dr. Chris Cooper / Doreen / Chris' dad / Lacey
Mark McKinney	...	Simon / Don Roritor / Cabbie / Gunther / Cop #1 / Nina Bedford / Melanie / Drill sergeant / White-trash woman
Scott Thompson	...	Baxter / Mrs. Hurdicure / Wally Terzinsky / Malek / Big Stummies scientist / The Queen / Raj / Clemptor
Kathryn Greenwood	...	Ginny Hurdicure
Amy Smith	...	Raymond's kid
Lachlan Murdoch	...	Raymond's kid
Nicole de Boer	...	Cooper's groupie
Krista Bridges	...	Cooper's groupie
Christopher Redman	...	Wally Jr.
Erica Lancaster	...	Wally's daughter
Jackie Harris	...	Natalie (Roritor's secretary)
Jonathan Wilson	...	Panicky assistant
Tony Ning	...	Mai Tai waiter

Also Known As:

Brain Candy (USA) (short title)
Kids in the hall: La pilule du bonheur (Canada: French title)
Pilule du bonheur, La (Canada: French title) (short title)
The Drug (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:AL (video rating) | USA:R (certificate #33989) | Argentina:13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

CAMEO: Janeane Garofalo (guest at party)

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the psychiatrist writes a prescription for Gleemonex for the repressed gay character, we see a large microphone hanging from the patient's neck during an over-the-shoulder shot as he's sitting up on the couch.

Quotes:

Raymond Hurdicure: So I hear dad's dead. Hey, is that egg nog?

Movie Connections:

References Charly (1968)

Soundtrack:

Happiness Pie

Not what you'd expect.

This film meant more to me than just 'a feature film featuring the comedy troop, The Kids in the Hall'. I am a Kids In The Hall fan. Their first feature length film theme was a good one. They took on one of the biggest things of 1996 and poked fun and holes at it: "Depression".

You have to remember, by 1996, depression drugs were being dispensed at an all time high. People were "sad" and wanted to be happy all the time so prescriptions were running wild for these depression drugs-- Prozac being the top one.

So the Kids went after this theme. Remember, this is The Kids in the Hall taking on this, not the book "Prozac Nation". This film may seem silly to some, or even awful for those who expected the same kind of Kids work as they had done in their series, but I did like it and I like the way they went about taking on a popular subject at the time most people didn't wish to admit how popular it really was.

Look back at "Brain Candy", well, may seem a tad bit dated now that in 2003 we should "know better". Do we? But again, I gotta hand it to the Kids in the Hall for being "sharp" enough to tackle this..and the WAY they tackled this. Think about it...is your health less important than corporate profits? ("We beat -- penicillin!!!!")And how about the summary at the end of the film by the taxi driver..."it's Okay to be sad...sometimes."

The Kids in the Hall were a very talented Comedy troupe of gentlemen and to some degree many expected something more comedic from them with their familiar characters and material for their first film fare, but again, I thought this was a more creative way to go, a more daring and brilliant way to go. Sometimes it strayed, but it all came back to the central theme. This is NOT for everyone's taste, but for those who want to venture into something different from a comedy troupe..maybe along the lines of the Monty Python's troupe fare of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" -- who's theme too was way out there for a comedy troupe. It's enjoyable, pick this one up, see it for what it is.