Strangers with Candy: A Prequel Film with Frustratingly Lazy Humor (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Back in 1999, a little show called "Strangers with Candy" premiered on Comedy Central, marking the network's first live-action narrative series. The show, created by Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Amy Sedaris, and Mitch Rouse, followed a 46-year-old woman named Jerri Blank who decides to go back to school after having been a prostitute and drug addict, and attempted to satirize after school specials with its somewhat cheesy & low-brow humor. The show didn't attract a large audience, which is rather difficult to do with a timeslot of 10pm on Sunday night, but it still managed to last for a total of three seasons (30 episodes) over the course of a year and a half before being cancelled, even going so far as to develop a small cult following over the years.

A few years later, a prequel film was made, which premiered at Sundance in 2005 before getting a limited theatrical release in 2006. To celebrate the film's 20th anniversary, Shout! Studios is releasing a Collector's Edition Blu-ray that features a new 4K transfer of the film and a small selection of extras, so as usual, it's time to go back and see if this little comedy outing is one worth lifting out of obscurity or if that's exactly where it was meant to stay.

The film begins with Jerri (Amy Sedaris) getting released from prison and returning to her childhood home, where she discovers that her mother has died and her father, who has remarried to Sara (Deborah Rush), is in a coma from stress. The family doctor suggests that Jerri showing how special she can be might be enough to wake her father from the coma, which prompts her to pick up her life where she left off and return to school.

She finds this rather difficult at first, but is eventually able to make friends with Megawatti (Carlo Alban) and Tammi (Maria Thayer), whom she joins on science teacher Chuck Noblet's (Stephen Colbert) science fair team. Together they try their best to come up with a plan to beat the school's other team, led by science fair champion Roger Beekman (Matthew Broderick), whom Principal Blackman (Gregory Hollimon) has summoned in hopes of securing victory.

As mentioned, "Strangers with Candy" never really found that big of an audience when it was originally on the air, but in a way it's really not that hard to understand why. The show used a very specific sense of humor, one that wanted to parody the silliness of after school specials and often aimed very low for its jokes, which in turn made it very difficult for any of them to land. That is, made it difficult for them to land for anyone other than a very select group of people that would actually find such low-brow humor to be funny.

As for the film, it sadly (but understandably) uses the same level of humor and the same low-brow jokes that just don't come across as funny. It always goes for the easiest punchline or the simplest quip, which gives the film a feeling of laziness when it comes to its comedic chops, or lack thereof. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the story it wants to tell (i.e. an older woman going back to school and getting involved in the science fair), and the cast truly tries their best to make the material work, but even the talents of Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Matthew Broderick, and others are unable to lift the low standard level of comedy that the film sets.

Overall, there was some potential in the story, but it really needed better writers to help bring out the humor of the situation. If they had aimed a little higher and not always gone for the lowest rung on the comedy ladder, then there could have been something here, but as it is, "Strangers with Candy" is a somewhat frustrating & annoying outing that makes it clear early on why the film (and the show) have become rather obscure, and will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Video/Audio:

"Strangers with Candy" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of mostly excellent quality. The new 4K transfer from the 35mm interpositive looks a little dark & muted throughout the 85-minute duration, but the picture still manages to look pretty sharp & clear for the most part. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue and music in outstanding quality. Overall, while the picture could've used a little brightening, Shout! Studios has done a pretty good job in both areas for this new release.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Actors Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello

Deleted Scenes (19 Sequences, 20 Minutes)

"Atomic Car" Music Video (4 Minutes)

Conclusion:

"Strangers with Candy" may have some impressive talent involved, including Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Matthew Broderick, but even they can't lift up the film's frustratingly low-brow level of humor, which continuously aims for the laziest of jokes, making this prequel film to the cult TV series one that's best left to its obscure fate.

Score: 2/5

Available on Blu-ray starting today.

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