I cannot believe all the positive comments about this film. This was the absolute WORST film I saw at Sundance this year, Midnight movie or otherwise, and yet was one of the most well-attended and sought after. I LOVED the TV show and own all three seasons on DVD, I even waited three hours in a wait list line to see the movie, so I am no "SWC" hater, mind you. The question "What happened?" instantly came across my mind as the creepy looking maggot-ridden closing credits rolled. This is a terrible waste of potential and talent. The racy and surreal content that the TV show presented so well is delivered ham-fisted and is hackneyed here. Amy Sedris is brilliant and is really the only thing worth watching in this nearly unwatchable mess, even if she has literally no new material to work with. Literally every single joke or visual gag is lifted entirely from the TV show (such as just about every single line of Jerri's dialog and since WHEN does Jerri live across the street from the school?!) and are executed grotesquely, rendering the effect of the film as somewhere between nausea inducing and boring. Story lines are completely altered from the TV show's for no reason (since when is Noblet a SCIENCE teacher...he was a HISTORY teacher in the show, the obnoxiously good-hearted "ethnic" friend is completely altered, etc). I thought this was supposed to be a "prequel," but comes off more like a remake of the whole premise (a la "Evil Dead 2," only as a prequel and without the brilliance). All of the celebrity cameos are unnecessary and completely unfunny (esp. Justin Theroux, Ian Holm and Philip Seymore Hoffman, who are usually wonderful in just about ANYTHING else). One of the TV show's best qualities, the cinematography, is a complete joke here (one of the only actually funny ones), but might be altered later on as it gets ready to be distributed later this year. The direction by Paul Dinello is horrendous and clearly comes from inexperience or just being a pessimist (playing Jellineck is really his only talent, it seems, besides coming off as really creepy both on screen and real life). The actors playing high school students actually are young enough to be high school students, unlike the TV show, but you'll be yearning for actors who can actually ACT within minutes. The effect of seeing actual 14 to 17 year olds against Jerri actually makes the film feel dirty and sad when it should really feel joyously funny and ironically satiric. The fabulous satiric, ironic, almost post-apocalyptic tone if the TV show is rendered to just plain disturbing and unconvincingly blasé here. The whole final product feels old hand and lame. The dingy new school location which looks about 150 years old doesn't help things much either. The movie's storyline is not even worth mentioning...let alone caring about. I remember when the whole premise was all about making fun of after school shows. Sadly, the movie actually looks and feels like an actual one. Thanks to this train wreck of a film, the joke is really on this usually wonderful comic trio. I know Warner Bros will be distributing it this summer, but it's nothing really to look forward to, even if you liked the TV show. Don't believe any positive reviews. You'll thank me later. Stick to your TV show DVDs. This film will only soil your memories of the original show's consistent brilliance. 2/10.
Review of Strangers with Candy
