Strange Brew (1983)

Written by Filipe Manuel Neto on January 23, 2024

A film so silly that you can't help but laugh.

I don't think Shakespeare ever imagined that one of his most iconic works could be the clear inspiration for such a wildly comical film: in fact, the relationship between the film and “Hamlet” is obvious to anyone who has the plot and characters in mind. famous play by the English Bard. Here, we have two comical characters with an obsession with beer (who will probably be guaranteed entry, without explanation, into Alcoholics Anonymous) who go, completely inadvertently, to a brewery and stumble upon a Machiavellian scheme to remove the heiress from the company to the detriment of from an uncle.

The film is complete nonsense from beginning to end, and it even seems painful to see how the two main characters go through so much without having any real idea of what is happening around them. They don't look drunk, but they look like they're on drugs all the time. The film is funny, you can't help but laugh... but at the same time it's not a film I would want to show to a teenage audience. After all, many of them already drink too much and smoke things they shouldn't...

The cast includes several well-known names who seem to have embarked on this project for fun and not, exactly, for the expected financial return. This is the case of Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who made several other films with the same characters and achieved some public recognition for it. I also liked seeing Max von Sydow, perhaps the most dense and professional actor present. I don't know Lynne Griffin, but I liked her work here and Paul Dooley was a laughable enough villain to not deserve our hate.