Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Just perfect...

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Here's a film I put into a category for achieving the lowest common denominator to appeal to it's many fans. I'd never seen SCTV's 'Great White North' segments but Bob and Doug McKenzie's fame became so ubiquitous back in the Eighties it was hard to escape their presence. Without meaning any offense to the principal players, I think their names could be aptly parodied as Rick Moronic and Dave Dumbass. There's actually some funny stuff going on in the picture but much of it comes across as forced, and I would have appreciated a story with more subtle humor. I can't imagine Max von Sydow needing a paycheck to appear here but I guess even some of the greats are allowed their career mistakes. But giving the movie credit where credit is due, there was no profanity or nudity in the picture, which only leads one to consider - how did that happen?

Canada's most famous hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie, get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery, only to learn that something is rotten with the state of it.My biggest problem with this film is the overdoing of the Canadian voice (with the "eh", "hoser" and "take off"). I know that is the joke, the exaggeration of the stereotypes, throwing in the Molson beer and the hockey (and the doughnuts are probably from Tim Horton). But it is just too much.This film's saving grace is Max von Sydow. Such a classy guy and a great villain, I could watch anything he does in English or any other language. In fact, without him, I think this film would be forgettable rather than the cult classic it has become. It is not a bad film, but it is not much more than a good film, either.

While Cheech and Chong were smoking their way through southern California, Bob and Doug McKenzie were drinking it up in the Great White North. It's the same basic concept. Two apparent losers in a quest to get high/drunk at all costs and often oblivious to the serious goings on around them. But thankfully Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis left it at just one film and didn't wear these characters out like Cheech and Chong did.The plot deals with Bob and Doug McKenzie having to get jobs at a brewery after their movie they made bombs at a theater. No sooner are these two are checking beer bottles for mice, then they find themselves involved in the kidnapping of a beer heiress orchestrated by a mad scientist looking to take over the world by selling drugged beer. The plot is beyond ludicrous, yet somehow everything holds together and the viewer is never lost by any of the developments. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis are more than hilarious as the McKenzie brothers, and the supporting cast is exceptional. Anyone can play dumb, but there is an art to making it funny. This film, even in its more ridiculous scenes, never seems to be taking things too far. Somehow we believe the world these characters live in could really exist. The special effects are cheesy, yet somehow better than this film probably deserves. And how in the world did they ever get Mel Blanc to do the voice of their father??? Much of the script is quotable in virtually any lively setting. Highly recommended. 9 of 10 stars.The Hound.

Canadian actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas made their two alter egos, Bob & Doug McKenzie (two stereotypical, dimwitted Canadian brothers) very popular in "The Great White North", a part of the sketch comedy series, "SCTV". In 1983, after Moranis and Thomas had left "SCTV", audiences got to see the characters in a different format. By this point, Moranis and Thomas had played the McKenzie brothers in comedy sketches, and had made an album, but this time, they brought the two icons to a movie. This was three years before I was born, but I first saw it late in 2004 (I think a couple times), and from what I remember, I loved it! That wasn't quite the case when I watched it again a couple nights ago, but it still definitely wasn't bad.Bob and Doug Mackenzie fail to impress a movie-going crowd with their sci-fi flick (which they weren't totally successful making), so they find themselves having to run from an angry mob! After returning home to their parents, the unemployed brothers are told by their father to go out and get beer the next day, but unfortunately, they are out of money to buy it, so they try to scam free beer by going to the beer store with an Elsinore bottle containing a mouse they put in there, claiming they found it in there. They are told that they will have to take it up at the Elsinore Brewery, so they go there and soon end up with jobs inspecting the beers. So, they have finally found employment and manage to bring lots of beer back home with them, but don't realize that trouble is arising at this brewery! The evil Brewmeister Smith plans to take over the world by putting a drug in Elsinore beer! The McKenzie brothers are both headed for an adventure because of this, and so is Pam Elsinore, the daughter of the recently-deceased founder of the Elsinore Brewery! "The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew" starts out very well with the brothers' ridiculous sci-fi movie. In fact, this part of the movie is often hilarious, with Bob's opening narration, the "fleshy-headed mutant in the Forbidden Zone" played by Doug, etc. If this were a real movie, and meant to be serious sci-fi effort, I'm sure it would be IMDb bottom 100 material, but it's a movie in a movie, and in reality, it's for laughs. For those like me who tend to like extreme silliness, I would say it works! More extreme silliness follows in the film, but it's not as consistent as you might hope. I found some of the scenes that don't involve the two main characters a tad awkward, especially early in the film. They sometimes don't quite fit in with the scenes that do involve Bob and Doug, and sometimes drag the film along (this isn't always the case, and it doesn't rely ENTIRELY on the main characters for the laughs, though I would say it almost does). Fortunately, this certainly didn't totally ruin the film for me, as I still laughed a lot, sometimes hard (when I wasn't laughing, I was usually probably still smiling), usually due to the brothers, with their stupidity and some bizarre things they do on their adventure towards the end! While they may not be consistently hilarious whenever they're on screen, when they're not hilarious, they're at least mildly amusing most of the time, if not always. The lawyer fighting the press is also a humorous highlight.Bob & Doug McKenzie are the same in this movie as they are in "SCTV" and on their "Great White North" album, meaning they're still incredibly stupid, but funny to many people. If you can't stand the characters, there's obviously no point in trying to endure watching them in the movie format. If you're a fan of they're "Great White North" sketches and/or their album, you may or may not be disappointed by "Strange Brew". Clearly, some have been blown away by this movie, like I once was, while others, some of them McKenzie brothers fans, haven't been so impressed. I'm sure some people prefer Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas' alter egos in smaller doses, so an entire movie with them as the main characters might be too much for you if you're one of those people. Nonetheless, while it is rather polarizing, this 1983 Canadian comedy has appeal, that's for sure. It's obviously too silly/stupid for some people, no doubt about that, but in my opinion, it's a reasonable dose of comedic lunacy for those who want it. It's also interesting how legendary voice actor Mel Blanc, known as the voice of so many cartoon characters, provided the voice of the brothers' father!