Being a former Canadian national, people ask me, "Have you seen this movie?" The answer is, "You bet!" Fact is, I've got this movie almost memorized.
There have been so many "dumb-guy" movies out there, from "Night At The Roxbury" to "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back", but none live up to the true campiness of "Strange Brew". It features stupid people, but the movie doesn't become stupid. It set the mold for those movies. Plus, it satirizes filmmaking itself. Very few movies are able to do that without going into the "anything for a laugh" style of the Mel Brooks films or "National Lampoon's 'Loaded Weapon 1'". With satirical films, it's either feast or famine. "Strange Brew" finds a nice balance. Can you imagine? Shakespearian drama in a dumb-guy movie? A bold maneuver that obviously paid off.
Max von Sydow must have either needed employment, or wanted to do a comedy. Paul Dooley gets to break out of his typecasting of playing intelligent, father-figure roles by playing a complete dunderhead for once. Once again, bold ploys that paid off. I wish I could have seen Lynne Griffin headline other movies. She's good. I know she guested in other venues, but I can't seem to find them on video.
Interestingly enough, I happened to see "Strange Brew" action figures in a semi-recent trip to the toy store(August 2001). The twenty-year anniversary won't occur for two more years, and yet, here they are. They're NOT action figures. Bob and Doug are frozen in the seated position, and the only things you can bend on them are their elbows. Instead of the Kung Fu grip, it's more like the Elsinore grip. I'm surprised you can separate them from their couch.
All in all, this is one of those movies where you can sit back and be entertained without having to turn your brain off.
