The Man with Two BrainsThey say that you shouldn't mix your professional life and your love life; when Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin)--pronounced the way it's spelled--accidentally runs over the devilishly good-looking femme fatale, Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner), he elects to perform the necessary brain surgery he pioneered--complete with child-proof screw-on scalp--to save her life. But Michael crosses that line of getting involved with his patient when she seduces him and they get married...only to double-cross that line when he falls in love with another woman, sans body.
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The Man with Two Brains is a screwball (screw-top?) comedy by Carl Reiner, one of many collaborations between the gifted director and the gifted comedian/actor, Steve Martin. It is a wacky spoof of those vintage (read: public domain) horror movie gems like Donovan's Brain and The Brain That Wouldn't Die, and other movies with brain in the title. The movie may be silly, but like their past collaborations--and those to come--there is a message and a heart in the homage, a fun story and lots of side-splitting jokes. Michael is just a wee bit conceited, convinced he is the premiere brain transplant expert, until he is challenged by a rival, Dr. Alfred Necessiter (David Warner), when he is giving a seminar in Vienna--his bosses' idea to help him loosen up after the tension of his unconsummated marriage with Dolores has him ready to blow. Necessiter's radical idea is to move the "data" from one brain to another body, without surgery; only, he hasn't gotten all the kinks out yet...unless you consider brain transplants of the recently deceased into a gorilla a success (no?). Necessiter's secret research material comes from the sudden surge of "elevator killings", victims of a very specific kind of toxic injection--that of window cleaner--which allows for the brain to remain alive long enough for him to stick it in a jar. As Necessiter introduces Hffhur...Hffere...Michael to the idea, he is taken aback when he finds that he--and he alone--can communicate with one of the brains on display, who introduces herself to him as Ann Uumellmahaye (an uncredited Sissy Spacek). And in the midst of a disastrous marriage to his "scum queen" of a wife, he finds comfort in the stimulating conversations with Ann about Babe Ruth, singing together, and discovering that one can enjoy the company of a beautiful mind more than a beautiful body.
Steve Martin movies have a set of recognizable tropes which make them so much fun--and funny--to watch, sight gags like his wish to have the moment where he carries Dolores over the threshold after they are married to last forever, realized by a timely fade to black then pan to reveal the lapse of time. The Man with Two Brains does boast some R-rated content, including a shocking blast of racial epithets from Dolores when Michael finally tosses her into the mud where she belongs (honeymoon's over...literally); as a bit of trivia--The Man with Two Brains was the first R-rated movie I ever saw, so needless to say my early impression as to what the adults watched when the kids went to bed was a bit skewed. As Michael realized that Ann cannot stay in the jar forever--Necessiter's liquid solution she floats in isn't perfect, like much of his experiments--he decides to ensure that Ann can live, and thus he must find a body. In a surprisingly ghoulish moment for the film, Michael stalks the streets of Vienna, seeking out attractive women about to get killed, or prostitutes, even convincing himself that a little nudge is for the greater good, while Dolores stalks Michael, plotting her own revenge for his "citizen's divorce, final decree". The Man with Two Brains was Kathleen Turner's second movie, which is actually quite surprising, as she has a real screen presence. Her diabolical Dolores is a character with echoes of the previous film which made her a star, Body Heat, where she played a femme fatale as well, although her character in this film is fiery--like dragon's breath--compared to her cool counterpart in the Lawrence Kasdan thriller, Matty Walker. The Man with Two Brains also imitates other thrillers of the time, like those of Brian De Palma, with fixed shots on murderous implements--even if they are a syringe full of "Pane in the Glass"-brand window cleaner, or even predating other elements of psychosexual thrillers like Fatal Attraction--just be wary if you ever are offered cervelles au beurre noir.
Recommended for: Fans of a hysterical spoof of those "brain in jar" crazy scientist movies, with a syringe full of psychothriller added for coloring. A really fun comedy with a load of gaffs and gags, and some of the most creative names for surgical equipment you'll ever hear. ("Get that cat out of here!")
Steve Martin movies have a set of recognizable tropes which make them so much fun--and funny--to watch, sight gags like his wish to have the moment where he carries Dolores over the threshold after they are married to last forever, realized by a timely fade to black then pan to reveal the lapse of time. The Man with Two Brains does boast some R-rated content, including a shocking blast of racial epithets from Dolores when Michael finally tosses her into the mud where she belongs (honeymoon's over...literally); as a bit of trivia--The Man with Two Brains was the first R-rated movie I ever saw, so needless to say my early impression as to what the adults watched when the kids went to bed was a bit skewed. As Michael realized that Ann cannot stay in the jar forever--Necessiter's liquid solution she floats in isn't perfect, like much of his experiments--he decides to ensure that Ann can live, and thus he must find a body. In a surprisingly ghoulish moment for the film, Michael stalks the streets of Vienna, seeking out attractive women about to get killed, or prostitutes, even convincing himself that a little nudge is for the greater good, while Dolores stalks Michael, plotting her own revenge for his "citizen's divorce, final decree". The Man with Two Brains was Kathleen Turner's second movie, which is actually quite surprising, as she has a real screen presence. Her diabolical Dolores is a character with echoes of the previous film which made her a star, Body Heat, where she played a femme fatale as well, although her character in this film is fiery--like dragon's breath--compared to her cool counterpart in the Lawrence Kasdan thriller, Matty Walker. The Man with Two Brains also imitates other thrillers of the time, like those of Brian De Palma, with fixed shots on murderous implements--even if they are a syringe full of "Pane in the Glass"-brand window cleaner, or even predating other elements of psychosexual thrillers like Fatal Attraction--just be wary if you ever are offered cervelles au beurre noir.
Recommended for: Fans of a hysterical spoof of those "brain in jar" crazy scientist movies, with a syringe full of psychothriller added for coloring. A really fun comedy with a load of gaffs and gags, and some of the most creative names for surgical equipment you'll ever hear. ("Get that cat out of here!")