Strangers with Candy is one of those relatively obscure films that sit on the shelf in the video shop (dvd shop?) - in fact I'm not 100% sure it got a cinema release in Australia - that you look at the cover for 10 seconds and move onto something else.
But that would be a mistake.
Strangers with Candy is the movie version of a tv series (on SBS a few years ago I think) where a 46 year old ex-junkie/hooker/delinquent/jailbird, Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris) returns to high school to start her life over in the hope of bring her father out of his coma.
Co-written by (and co-starring) Stephen Colbert (of the Colbert Report and earlier The Daily Show with John Stewart) along with director Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris (apparently the only woman who can make David Letterman laugh), this film features some of the best comedy dialogue I have ever come across.
Many times when you talk about great quotes or scenes in a comedy film, you give away the best jokes - the good news is that I can do this here pretty easily as this film is wall to wall gold. These in particular where some of my favourite scenes.
Jerri Blank: Faggot.
Chuck Noblet: What did you say?
Jerri Blank: What did you hear?
Chuck Noblet: I'd rather not repeat it.
Jerri Blank: Then I guess we'll never know.
While the writing in this film is definitely the highlight, the performances come a very close second. Again, all gold - particularly Amy Sedariswho does is able to mesh a dumb teenager with a streetwise adult perfectly, creating an utterly immoral and thoroughly lovable character in the process. Like all good comedy, the best performances are those taken over the top - Stephen Colbert I'll mention again as well as the guy who played the principal Onyx Blackman, Greg Hollimon.
Throw in some shining guest spots from Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney (CJ from West Wing), Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker (who I actually thought was Jennifer Aniston in the movie) and you have a very lively cast.
I'm going to have to hunt up the original series now.
Five reasons to watch Strangers with Candy:
- Stephen Colbert
- Amy Sedaris
- What did you say? - What did you hear?
- I wasn't pushing you away, I was pulling me towards myself
- Jerri Blank on drugs
