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Strangers with Candy (film)
Encyclopedia
Strangers with Candy is a 2005 comedy film
released by THINKFilm
, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival
. It serves as a prequel
to the TV series of the same name
. Among the executive producers was David Letterman
.
), a 46-year-old former high school dropout and self-described "junkie whore", is released from prison and returns to her childhood home. She discovers her mother has died, her father, Guy (Dan Hedaya
), has remarried to the hateful Sara Blank (Deborah Rush
), and she has an arrogant half-brother Derrick (Joseph Cross). To make matters worse, her father is in a "stress-induced coma". Taking the suggestion of the family doctor (Ian Holm
) literally, Jerri decides to pick her life back up where she left it, beginning her high school all over again as a freshman at Flatpoint High.
Jerri joins Chuck Noblet's (Stephen Colbert
) science fair
team, the Fig Neutrons
, along with her new friends, Megawatti Sucarnaputri (Carlo Alban
) (a spoof on Megawati Sukarnoputri
) and Tammi Littlenut (Maria Thayer
). Noblet is not pleased to learn that Principal Onyx Blackman (Greg Hollimon
) has hired a ringer for their team, Roger Beekman (Matthew Broderick
), to ensure that Flatpoint wins, and so Noblet creates a second team. As she struggles to fit in and make her teammates proud, Jerri discovers that though the faces may have changed, the hassles of high school are just the same.
, Steve
, and I were working on our book Wigfield ... We kept coming up with funny Jerri Blank stuff to say, so it would go into a file, and by the end of the book, Paul opened the file and there was all this Blank stuff, and he said, 'Oh, it would be so funny to write a movie.' That's really how it happened."
, with the consensus "Occasionally funny, but little more than a jumbled, overextended episode of the TV show. Still, Candy devotees won't be disappointed."
On a $3.5 million budget, the film managed to recoup $2,254,124 worldwide.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
released by THINKFilm
THINKFilm
THINKFilm is a privately held production and distribution company founded in September 2001. It has been a division of David Bergstein’s Capitol Films since 2006. Bergstein also serves as the company’s chairman...
, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. It serves as a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to the TV series of the same name
Strangers with Candy
Strangers with Candy is a television series produced by Comedy Central. It first aired on April 7, 1999, and concluded its third and final season on October 2, 2000. Its timeslot was Sundays at 10 p.m....
. Among the executive producers was David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
.
Plot
Jerri Blank (Amy SedarisAmy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...
), a 46-year-old former high school dropout and self-described "junkie whore", is released from prison and returns to her childhood home. She discovers her mother has died, her father, Guy (Dan Hedaya
Dan Hedaya
Daniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
), has remarried to the hateful Sara Blank (Deborah Rush
Deborah Rush
Deborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
), and she has an arrogant half-brother Derrick (Joseph Cross). To make matters worse, her father is in a "stress-induced coma". Taking the suggestion of the family doctor (Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
) literally, Jerri decides to pick her life back up where she left it, beginning her high school all over again as a freshman at Flatpoint High.
Jerri joins Chuck Noblet's (Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
) science fair
Science fair
A science fair is generally a competition where contestants present their science project results in the form of a report, display board, and models that they have created. Science fairs allow students in grade schools and high schools to compete in science and/or technology activities...
team, the Fig Neutrons
Fig Newton
The Fig Newton is a Nabisco trademarked version of the ancient fig roll pastry filled with fig paste. Their unusual shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by many competitors including generic fig bars sold by most supermarkets.-History:...
, along with her new friends, Megawatti Sucarnaputri (Carlo Alban
Carlo Alban
Carlo Alban is an Ecuadorian actor. He is known as Carlo from Sesame Street , appearing in the telefilm Elmo Saves Christmas. He grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, majoring in visual arts.-Notable roles:He has had recurring roles in Strangers with Candy, Thicker...
) (a spoof on Megawati Sukarnoputri
Megawati Sukarnoputri
In this Indonesian name, the name "Sukarnoputri" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name "Megawati"....
) and Tammi Littlenut (Maria Thayer
Maria Thayer
Maria Thayer is an American actress from Boring, Oregon, known for her roles as Wyoma in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rory in Accepted and Tammi Littlenut in Strangers with Candy. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Thayer plays a Mormon newlywed on her honeymoon with her new husband, played by Jack...
). Noblet is not pleased to learn that Principal Onyx Blackman (Greg Hollimon
Greg Hollimon
Greg Hollimon is an actor best known for his work on Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy.Hollimon grew up in the Chicago housing projects of Cabrini–Green with Ozone from Breakin'. In 1986, he began taking improvisation classes at Players Workshop, where he met Paul Dinello and, some time later,...
) has hired a ringer for their team, Roger Beekman (Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
), to ensure that Flatpoint wins, and so Noblet creates a second team. As she struggles to fit in and make her teammates proud, Jerri discovers that though the faces may have changed, the hassles of high school are just the same.
Cast
- Amy SedarisAmy SedarisAmy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...
as Geraldine Antonia "Jerri" Blank - Stephen ColbertStephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
as Chuck Noblet - Paul DinelloPaul DinelloPaul Dinello is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and an alumnus of Chicago-based The Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre...
as Geoffrey Jellineck - Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
as Guy Blank - Joseph Cross as Derrick Blank
- Deborah RushDeborah RushDeborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
as Sara Blank - Maria ThayerMaria ThayerMaria Thayer is an American actress from Boring, Oregon, known for her roles as Wyoma in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rory in Accepted and Tammi Littlenut in Strangers with Candy. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Thayer plays a Mormon newlywed on her honeymoon with her new husband, played by Jack...
as Tammi Littlenut - Carlo AlbanCarlo AlbanCarlo Alban is an Ecuadorian actor. He is known as Carlo from Sesame Street , appearing in the telefilm Elmo Saves Christmas. He grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, majoring in visual arts.-Notable roles:He has had recurring roles in Strangers with Candy, Thicker...
as Megawatti SukarnoputriMegawati SukarnoputriIn this Indonesian name, the name "Sukarnoputri" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name "Megawati".... - Allison JanneyAllison JanneyAllison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
as Alice - Matthew BroderickMatthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
as Roger Beekman - Sarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
as Peggy Callas - Philip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
as Henry - Justin Theroux as Carlo Honklin
- Chris PrattChris PrattChristopher Michael "Chris" Pratt is an American actor, best known for his roles as Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott in the television series Everwood, the recurring character Winchester "Ché" Cook in season 4 of The OC, Andy Dwyer in the television series Parks and Recreation and for portraying...
as Brason - Kristen JohnstonKristen JohnstonKristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She may be most famous for her role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun...
as Coach Divers - Ian HolmIan HolmSir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
as Dr. Putney - Elisabeth HarnoisElisabeth HarnoisElisabeth Rose Harnois is an American television and film actress.-Early life:Harnois was born in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA, and raised in Los Angeles. She attended St...
as Monica - Evelyn McGee as Clair Noblet
- Jonah BoboJonah Bobo-Life and career:Bobo was born in Roosevelt Island, New York. His mother, Denise Raimi, is a physical therapist and personal trainer , and his father, Scot, works in software. He has a younger sister named Georgia. His great-grandmother was Tampa businesswoman and philanthropist Salha "Mama" Bobo...
as Seamus Noblet
Production
Sedaris admitted in an interview that they never intended on making a film after the series was cancelled, stating, "PaulPaul Dinello
Paul Dinello is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and an alumnus of Chicago-based The Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre...
, Steve
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, and I were working on our book Wigfield ... We kept coming up with funny Jerri Blank stuff to say, so it would go into a file, and by the end of the book, Paul opened the file and there was all this Blank stuff, and he said, 'Oh, it would be so funny to write a movie.' That's really how it happened."
Characters not returning
- Orlando Pabotoy looked too old to reprise his series role as Orlando Pinatubo. His character was then replaced by the similar Megawatti Sukarnoputri.
- Larc SpiesLarc SpiesLarc Spies is an American actor who is best known for playing Derrick Blank, half-brother to main character Jerri Blank on the comedy TV series Strangers with Candy...
did not return for the role of Derrick Blank because, according to Sedaris, "he looks like a longshoreman now." Several other characters were recast because the original actors looked too old to believably play high schoolers. The only original student to return was Maria ThayerMaria ThayerMaria Thayer is an American actress from Boring, Oregon, known for her roles as Wyoma in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Rory in Accepted and Tammi Littlenut in Strangers with Candy. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Thayer plays a Mormon newlywed on her honeymoon with her new husband, played by Jack...
as redhead Tammi Littlenut. - Roberto GariRoberto GariRoberto Gari was an American artist and actor. He was born in Brooklyn and appeared in vaudeville under the name of Jackie Hayes from the age of 4.-Artistic career:...
did not reprise the role of Guy Blank, who was instead portrayed by Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
. Hedaya portrayed Guy's character differently than Gari; on the television show, A 'healthy' Guy is frozen in humorous, almost statuesque state, whereas in the film Hedaya's Guy is simply unconscious.
Reception
Strangers with Candy received mixed reviews, currently holding a 52% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with the consensus "Occasionally funny, but little more than a jumbled, overextended episode of the TV show. Still, Candy devotees won't be disappointed."
On a $3.5 million budget, the film managed to recoup $2,254,124 worldwide.