A review of "Strangers with Candy"

Last Friday I went to movies to see the movie adaptation of "Strangers with Candy." I wasn't sure what to expect because the Nuvo gave it a lukewarm review ,and its cult status ensures that it doesn't draw much attention from the Indy Star and other mainstream movie reviewers. Fortunately, it turns out that SWC far exceeded my expectations.

The movie opens with somber and dramatic pictures of a bus motoring its way to a prison - then cut to Jerri, in all her overbiting, fat suit wearing, and ugly makeup glory, sitting in the back of the bus contemplating her future status as an inmate. Most of the audience immediately starts laughing, but it's just a hint of what's to come. And it keeps coming. I honestly can't remember most of the jokes because I was laughing the whole time.

The creators of SWC (Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello) reprise their roles from the TV show that used to air on Comedy Central in the late 90's and early 2000's. Don't worry, fans: Greg Hollimon, who plays Principal Onyx Blackman, appears in the movie. There are also cameos by some big name actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Matthew Broderick. For me it was hard to see Allison Janney play a member of the school board (and a former love interest of Principal Blackman) when she spent 5.5 seasons on the West Wing as Press Secretary and another 1.5 seasons as Chief of Staff. I quickly got over it, though. The whole movie plays like an extended television episode - except it's raunchier, more perverse, and a hell of lot funnier. Sedaris is at the top of her game playing Jerri Blank; the facial ticks, horrific makeup, and body language makes a flawless transition to the big screen.

Four stars out of five.