{"id":16517,"date":"2017-08-19T11:22:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T15:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=16517"},"modified":"2017-08-19T16:45:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T20:45:30","slug":"dvd-funny-farm-the-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=16517","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Funny Farm, The (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Weak<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Code Red<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a01 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 May 23, 2017<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Comedy \/ CanCon<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A novice comedian heads to the mecca of stand-up in L.A., working his way up among a gang of wild, wacky, and wayward goofballs.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 Interview with co-star Tracey Bregman (7:37) \/ Theatrical Trailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not to be confused in any way with the 1988 Chevy Chase film, this CanCon production predates the Tom Hanks drama Punchline<\/strong> (also 1988) in examining the world of stand-up comedy, albeit through the lenses of goofy glasses. The cast of comedians is perhaps a key reason the film managed to sneak its way to DVD via Code Red, treating it with affection when most tax shelter ventures languish in the bottom drawer of dentists and commercial builders.<\/p>\n

Tax shelter films didn\u2019t have to be good nor get any theatrical play \u2013 they just needed to exist to qualify as 100% write-offs for investors – but once in a while the talent gelled and enough care went into a production to yield a classic. Funny Farm<\/strong> doesn\u2019t come near that benchmark, but its cast of working comics and some unusual casting guarantee its status as a curio.<\/p>\n

Wannabe comedian Mark Champlin (Miles Chapin) drives from Cincinnati to Los Angeles where he hopes to make it big on the intimate stage shared by working comedians. When his destination ends up being the burn-out shell \u2013 Maybe he should\u2019ve called first to check its solvency? \u2013 he finds out The Funny Farm is the next best thing. Initially a wallflower, Champlin auditions for a spot, and within a short time becomes a regular, joining the wall of regular stars, woos barmaid Amy (Tracey Bregman), and impresses exploitive TV impresario Paul (Mark Breslin) who offers him a shot at stardom with a TV pilot.<\/p>\n

Champlin doesn\u2019t get big-headed, but his eyes on TV soon separate him from the gang of comics he once considered peers, but when the pilot ends in disaster, he decides to pack it all in and head home, but a stopover in a divey gas station \/ comedy club sends him back to The Funny Farm and into the arms of perky Amy.<\/p>\n

Stars Chapin, Bregman, Eileen Brennan (The Sting<\/strong>, Private Benjamin<\/strong>), and Jack Carter are the top-heavy U.S. talent, but alongside are a substantive roster of Canadian comics, writers, actors, and future stars, including Howie Mandel, who also appeared in Gas<\/strong> (1981), the first of a 2-film production deal with Filmplan International, and in 1984 would voice Gizmo in the box office hit Gremlins<\/strong> (1984).<\/p>\n

Code Red\u2019s interview with Bregman has her waxing with great affection for the film \u2013 it\u2019s clearly a movie in which everyone had a blast making, with filming in the U.S. for exteriors and Montreal for the comedy club location \u2013 and the actress recalls getting a part in the film after returning to the States just as Happy Birthday to Me<\/strong><\/a> (1981) had wrapped. The then 18 year old also co-wrote the meh End Credits song, and would also contribute material to the closing song of the WIP classic The Concrete Jungle<\/strong> (1982) before soap stardom in The Yong and the Restless<\/strong> in 1984.<\/p>\n

Funny Farm<\/strong> apparently took 2 years to hit screens, after which it likely made its way to TV and home video, with Mandel and Bregman\u2019s appearances getting more attention, but it is amusing to see Canadian actors working with slim material.\u00a0The goofball comedians include Peter Aykroyd (brother of Dan, and another Gas<\/strong> alunus) being wacky and outrageous, Jack Blum (Meatballs<\/strong>\u2019 Spaz) as the club\u2019s emcee, Maurice LaMarche (a master and prolific voice artist) doing assorted imitations, and prolific character actor Derek McGrath as the club\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n

Ron Clark\u2019s script & direction are adequate, but any insight into the world of stand-up comedians is blanketed with tiresome wacky hijinks, most concocted to give the massive supporting cast things to do while Champlin works his way to ephemeral TV stardom.<\/p>\n

Besides coffee shop gatherings, mucking about in a clothing store, and the bizarre trolling through streets that yield a car accident and stalking the club\u2019s \u2018mysterious\u2019 comedian Myles (Gene Clark), there\u2019s little drama. Clark keeps things goofy, and running time padding includes Myles\u2019 bizarre funeral and feigning an earthquake to get club manager Gail (Brennan) out into the street wearing nothing but\u00a0 a bed sheet.\u00a0Gail\u2019s humiliation gives the character an unusually intimate, dramatic moment which Brennan plays dead straight (and quite beautifully, really).<\/p>\n

A third digression in which the buddy-buddy comics visit a Las Vegas icon named Philly Beekman (veteran Jack Carter) starts to steer the film into awkward terrain as the scene rapidly shifts from a meeting between icon and wannabes to a misogynist, racist pig who sends them running out the door. Clark\u2019s reasoning may have been to show \u2018the dark side\u2019 than may lie beneath a beloved icon, but Carter plays it like a bulldog, fast-talking and berating the group viciously.<\/p>\n

Completely underwritten and underplayed is Champlin\u2019s TV break, which is over and done with in one scene. Instead of seeing him fail during the taping, he\u2019s told he\u2019s fired and leaves the building, denying us any meaty drama. Champlin pushes away Amy\u2019s concern, and the soundtrack swells with the worst of an already awful batch of songs which make up the film\u2019s score.<\/p>\n

Funny Farm<\/strong> certainly worked as a career stepping stone, giving the cast & crew big screen credits, but it\u2019s just a curio in the slim sub-genre of comedies and dramadies set in the world of stand-up comedians.<\/p>\n

Ron Clark\u2019s prior directorial effort is the softcore, Montreal-shot Sex and the Office Girl <\/strong>(1972), and Filmplan International\u2019s small filmography encompasses a few notables: amid Hog Wild<\/strong> (1980), Dirty Tricks<\/a><\/strong> (1981), Gas<\/a><\/strong> (1981), The Funny Farm <\/strong>(1983), and Covergirl<\/strong> (1984) are David Cronenberg\u2019s Scanners<\/a><\/strong> (1981) and Videodrome<\/strong> (1983) \u2013 two works you\u2019d like to think exist because of the lesser quintet.<\/p>\n

Special thanks to John Riven<\/a> and Mark Breslin<\/a> for respectively adding some info and anecdotes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2017 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not to be confused in any way with the 1988 Chevy Chase film, this CanCon production predated the Tom Hanks drama Punchline (also 1988) in examining the world of standup comedy, albeit through the lenses of goofy glasses. The cast of comedians is perhaps a key reason the film managed to sneak its way to DVD via Code Red, treating it with affection…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[408,5277,5273,5268,5248,5279,5264,5275,5274,5272,5276,5271,5265,5278,5270],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-4ip","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16517"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16549,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16517\/revisions\/16549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}