Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996)

Director:

Kelly Makin

Writers:

Norm Hiscock (written by) &
Bruce McCulloch (written by) ...

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:

Drugs | Pharmaceuticals | Scientist | Pharmaceutical Company | Memory

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)
La pilule du bonheur (Canada: French title) (short title)
The Drug (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Dave Foley is the only "Kid" who doesn't play a female character in the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the two workmen roll the carpet into a tube, it is obviously lopsided, accumulating on the left hand side of the screen. In the next shot, the carpet is perfectly even.

Quotes:

[after being brought home by the police]
Wally: There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.
Wally's wife: Please don't.
Wally: Well, I was out driving. 'Cause you know how much I love driving. When suddenly, I had to take the *biggest pee in the world*! So I went to this washroom...
[Wally's family goes inside and locks him out]
Wally: ...but it was full of those *types*! You know. QUEERS and QUEENIES and...

Movie Connections:

References Charly (1968)

One last sweet dose of the "Kids In The Hall" for who knows how long?

The audiences and critics seem split on the solitary feature effort from the Canadian comedy troupe "Kids In The Hall". Even Siskel and Ebert had a split love/hate feeling, respectively, about the film. But I was and shall remain a major fan of the television show and welcomed "Brain Candy" with open arms.

When the show aired it's final episode in 1994, I felt a sense of sadness overcome me. But without a doubt in my mind, I knew these five talented guys would continue to entertain the masses in some other forum.

Not too long after the conclusion to the five year run, I was dining in Toronto with my wife and I had the occasion to meet Bruce McCulloch and chat briefly with him, much to my wife's embarrassment. For the record, I feel that I chose an entirely appropriate time to approach him, not interrupting a conversation with his friend or his meal. After receiving an expression of my appreciation of the show, he answered an inquiry about future plans by telling me of a feature film project involving the whole cast. It wasn't until a couple of years later that the film was finally released, and I had been basically anticipating it the whole time. That said, I was not let down whatsoever.

I had heard in interviews with various "Kids" that their intention wasn't to re-use some of the old characters from the show at all, but as the script evolved, their were a number of instances where they just fit perfectly in to the story line. Also in such interviews, it came out that the troupe wasn't exactly always getting along perfectly which was part of the reasons for the group's disbanding. It seemed from such comments that this was a final farewell, but some of the members stated that they were not adverse to the idea of another one in the future.

Aside from the familiar masterful antics from the five comics, there are numerous shots of Toronto locations that show in more ways than one their prominent sense of Canadian pride about the whole production. For more elements of Canadiana, Craig Northey of "Odds", a favourite band of the "Kids", provided the score for the film, and the whole band collaborated on a couple of songs featured in the film as an important part of the story line. The only thing missing from the film, but not from the great soundtrack, is the familiar theme from the show, "Having An Average Weekend" by Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet. The opening bars of the theme always signified simultaneously something great and something sad about TV for me: It meant "Kids In The Hall" was either beginning or ending.

Another aspect of integrity that the "Kids In The Hall" maintained was the refusal to cut certain scenes that would be considered by many to be just on the edge of completely tasteless humour, particularly one character named "Cancer Boy". On CBC, they had their restrictions with content and subject matter, but in many ways they enjoyed much more freedom than many other shows ever experienced. But on HBO broadcasts, I presume they had a bit more free reign, especially with the language used.

And so all the "Kids" have all left home to do their own thing in various arenas of North America. As far as I'm concerned they're a national treasure as much as "Monty Python" is to Britain. We'll always have syndication.