For Canada Day yesterday I watched a richly Canadian made film, Strange Brew. Based on their characters from the tv show SCTV (1976-1984), Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas play brothers who drink beer, eat doughnuts, and wear toques (all playing into the Canadian stereotype that, now reflecting in hindsight, they helped contribute to). The movie echoes cinematic pairings such as Cheech and Chong, Bill and Ted, and Wayne and Garth, and was filmed primarily in Ontario. An animated series appeared in 2009, the duo released 2 albums, and almost had a sequel made in 1999. Music in the film complimented the direction of the scenes (composed by Charles Fox), and gave a light feeling to the action that Beverly Hills Cop would perfect the following year. Bob and Doug seem to be most effective when they are improvising, like much of their skits in SCTV, and come across as more relaxed and convincing when they do so. The feeling of the film is light fun, much like the antics of the boys.

The beginning sequence was brilliant poking fun at the MGM title screen, and throughout the film there are plenty of 4th wall breaking jokes at motion pictures, (driving, lineup). I really enjoyed the laid back approach the pair took, fitting to the characters of course, but they were most effective when just stumbling through the plot and commentating as they went about their business. Inspirational to pairings like Beavis and Butt-Head or Harold and Kumar, Bob and Doug MacKenzie can make the most average outing into a hilarious adventure by simply being themselves. Having a well respected, 2 time Oscar nominated actor like Max von Sydow appear as the villain gives the film credibility and helps contrast the innocence of the brothers MacKenzie. He also had some hilarious bits in the film like the lights and the rest room, shouldn’t every actor try every genre? Shout out to the lawyer who took care of the press in the film and if you catch the Shakespeare parallels to a famous play. If you are looking for a slice of the great, white north, give Strange Brew a try.

1983, PG, 1h 30m
Distributor – MGM
Budget – $4 million

Cast & Crew
Co-writer Steve De Jarnatt also wrote episodes for tv shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), The X-Files (1995), Aeon Flux (1995), and American Gothic (1996). Co-writer, co-director, and co-lead Rick Moranis made his feature debut, and would next appear in Ghostbusters (1984), Brewster’s Millions (1985), Spaceballs (1987), Ghostbusters 2 (1989), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). Co-writer, co-director, and co-lead Dave Thomas was previously in Stripes (1981 starring Bill Murray), and would next work on The New Show (8 episodes of a skit based program, 1984), voice work for tv series and movies, and write and direct a tv movie Dave Thomas: The Incredible Time Travels of Harry Osgood (1986). Max von Sydow was previously in Flash Gordon (1980 with Sam J. Jones), Victory (1981 with Michael Caine), Conan the Barbarian (1982 with Arnold Schwarzenegger), and would next be in Never Say Never Again (1983 with Sean Connery), Dreamscape (1984 with Dennis Quaid), and Dune (1984 with Kyle MacLachlan). Also of note was a voice cameo from Mel Blanc, (known for Barney on The Flintstones, 1960-1966, and Bugs Bunny, 1940-1992).

Links
IMDB – 6.8
Box Office Mojo
Wikipedia