The Man with Two Brains

Last updated
The Man with Two Brains
Man With Two Brains.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Carl Reiner
Written by Steve Martin
Carl Reiner
George Gipe
Produced by William E. McEuen
David V. Picker
Starring
Cinematography Michael Chapman
Edited by Bud Molin
Music by Joel Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • June 3, 1983 (1983-06-03)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$10 million [1]

The Man with Two Brains is a 1983 American science fiction black comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner.

Contents

Written by Martin, Reiner and George Gipe and shot in summer 1982 at Laird International Studios in Culver City, California, the film is a broad comedy, with Martin starring as Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, a pioneering neurosurgeon with a cruel and unfaithful new wife, Dolores Benedict (Turner).

Plot

Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, a widowed brain surgeon, is renowned for inventing a method of "cranial screw-top" brain surgery. He saves the life of Dolores Benedict, a gold-digging femme fatale who is accidentally run over by Michael when fleeing the scene of her latest husband's fatal coronary, caused by her malicious mind-games and scheming. As she recovers, Michael falls in love and they marry. Dolores torments Michael by pretending to be too ill to consummate the marriage, citing a continuing headache. On a honeymoon and business trip to a medical conference in Vienna, a city living in fear of the serial "Elevator Killer", Hfuhruhurr meets mad scientist Dr. Alfred Necessiter, who has created a technique enabling him to store living brains in liquid-filled jars using the Elevator Killer's victims.

Michael discovers he can communicate telepathically with one of Necessiter's brains, that of Anne Uumellmahaye, when they both sing Under the Bamboo Tree . Michael and Anne fall in love, with Michael taking her brain away to spend more time with her. Dolores—having learned that Michael has received a large inheritance from his step-grandmother—attempts to reignite their relationship, but catches on to his relationship with Anne when she spots him in a rowboat with the jar. She attempts to kill Anne first by leaving her out in the sun, then by putting her brain in an oven. Michael to literally toss Dolores out of his house and says she will never get a penny of his hard-earned money.

Michael consults with Necessiter, who informs him that brains in tanks do not survive long, with Anne being his longest-living one to date. Necessiter recommends transplanting Anne's brain into a body of a recently-deceased woman, revealing that he has perfected a process that could allow him to do so. Filling a syringe with window cleaner, the substance used by the Elevator Killer, Michael sees a crowd gathering around an attractive woman hit by a car. Michael is hoping she will expire (causing the crowd to think him odd) only to see her regain consciousness. Michael then targets Fran, a prostitute with an annoying voice, but his conscience stops him. Stepping into an elevator, he finds that Dolores has just been murdered by the Elevator Killer, who turns out to be Merv Griffin. Michael takes Dolores' corpse, and Griffin promises to turn himself in to the police.

Michael hurriedly takes Dolores's body to Necessiter's lab. He is stopped by the Austrian police, who suspect him of drunk driving. After a series of unusual sobriety tests, Michael convinces the police of his sobriety. However, as Dolores' body flails, the police realize that she was not drunk, but dead, and pursue his car. Michael makes it to the lab, where Necessiter transfers Anne's consciousness to Dolores's body, which is viewed by the stunned policemen. In the process, Michael is electrically shocked by the equipment and falls into a coma.

Waking up six weeks later, Michael meets Anne in Dolores's body. Anne is a compulsive eater, and has gained considerable weight in her new body. Michael loves Anne for who she is, and they get married. A note in the credits reports that Merv Griffin did not turn himself in as promised and requests that the audience report the whereabouts of Griffin if they see him.

Cast

Production

Filming

Kathleen Turner describes the scene from this film in which her character "is about to have her ass rubbed" as the only sex scene of her career for which she used a body double. [3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 79% based on reviews from 24 critics. The site's consensus states "As spastically uneven as its zany title suggests, The Man with Two Brains isn't peak Steve Martin — but it's still often close enough to enjoy." [4] On Metacritic the film has a score of 61 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [5]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, and wrote that despite the fact that he "never found Steve Martin irresistibly funny" ... "it's a tribute to "The Man With Two Brains" that I found myself laughing a fair amount of the time, despite my feelings about Martin." [6] [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid</i> 1982 film by Carl Reiner

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery comedy film directed, co-written by, and co-starring Carl Reiner and co-written by and starring Steve Martin. Co-starring Rachel Ward, the film is both a parody of and a homage to film noir and the pulp detective films of the 1940s. The title refers to Martin's character telling a story about a woman obsessed with plaid in a scene that was ultimately cut from the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Turner</span> American actress (born 1954)

Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. Known for her distinctive husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Bianchi</span> American serial killer, kidnapper and rapist

Kenneth Alessio Bianchi is an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist. He is known for the Hillside Strangler murders committed with his cousin Angelo Buono Jr. in Los Angeles, California, as well as for murdering two more women in Washington by himself. Bianchi is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Washington State Penitentiary for these crimes. Bianchi was also at one time a suspect in the Alphabet murders, three unsolved murders in his home city of Rochester, New York, from 1971 to 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Anne Worley</span> American actress and comedienne

JoAnne Worley is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

<i>The Black Sleep</i> 1956 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Black Sleep is a 1956 American independent horror film directed by Reginald LeBorg, and written by John C. Higgins from a story by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, and Akim Tamiroff. Tor Johnson appears in a supporting role. The film was produced by Aubrey Schenck and Howard W. Koch, as part of a four-picture finance-for-distribution arrangement with United Artists.

<i>Necronomicon</i> (film) 1993 French-American anthology horror film by Brian Yuzna, Christophe Gans, Shūsuke Kaneko

Necronomicon is a 1993 French-American anthology horror film. It features three distinct segments and a wraparound directed by Brian Yuzna, Christophe Gans and Shusuke Kaneko and written by Gans, Yuzna, Brent V. Friedman and Kazunori Itō. The film's ensemble cast includes stars Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Payne, Richard Lynch, Belinda Bauer, Maria Ford, Dennis Christopher, Gary Graham and David Warner. The extensive special makeup and animatronic effects were supervised by Tom Savini and were created by John Carl Buechler, Christopher Nelson and Screaming Mad George.

<i>All of Me</i> (1984 film) American film by Carl Reiner

All of Me is a 1984 American fantasy comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. This film is based on the unpublished novel Me Two by Edwin Davis. The title song and theme of the movie is the 1931 jazz standard "All of Me".

<i>The Lonely Guy</i> 1984 film by Arthur Hiller

The Lonely Guy is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Steve Martin. The screenplay is credited to Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels as well as Neil Simon, and is based on the 1978 book The Lonely Guy's Book of Life by Bruce Jay Friedman.

<i>Hollow Man 2</i> 2006 film by Claudio Fäh

Hollow Man 2 is a 2006 American science fiction horror film directed by Claudio Fäh and starring Peter Facinelli, Laura Regan and Christian Slater. In the film a government experiment goes wrong leaving soldier Michael Griffin (Slater) permanently invisible. When his health starts to deteriorate he goes after the scientists who ruined his life. It is the stand-alone sequel to the 2000 film Hollow Man, released direct-to-video on May 23, 2006.

<i>Mixed Nuts</i> 1994 American film

Mixed Nuts is a 1994 Christmas dark comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, based on the 1982 French comedy film Le Père Noël est une ordure. Co-written by Ephron and her sister Delia, the film features an ensemble cast which includes Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, Garry Shandling, Rob Reiner, Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, and Liev Schreiber in his film debut.

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the contemporary press, was a series of four unsolved serial murders and related violent crimes committed in the Texarkana region of the United States in early 1946. They were attributed to an alleged unidentified perpetrator known as the Phantom of Texarkana, the Phantom Killer, or the Phantom Slayer. This hypothetical suspect is credited with attacking eight people, five of them fatally, in a ten-week period.

<i>Down</i> (film) 2001 horror film directed by Dick Maas

Down is a 2001 science fiction horror film written and directed by Dick Maas and starring James Marshall, Naomi Watts, and Eric Thal. It is a remake of the 1983 Dutch-language film De Lift, which was also directed by Maas.

<i>Donovans Brain</i> (film) 1953 film by Felix E. Feist

Donovan's Brain is an independently made 1953 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced by Tom Gries for Allan Dowling Productions, directed by Felix Feist, that stars Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, Nancy Davis and Steve Brodie. The film was distributed by United Artists and is based on the 1942 horror novel Donovan's Brain by Curt Siodmak.

<i>Graduation Day</i> (film) 1981 film by Herb Freed

Graduation Day is a 1981 American slasher film co-written, co-produced and directed by Herb Freed, and starring Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, Michael Pataki, and E. Danny Murphy in his film debut. The plot follows a high school track team who are stalked and murdered by a masked assailant days before their graduation. Linnea Quigley, Vanna White, and Karen Abbott appear in supporting performances.

<i>My One and Only</i> (film) 2009 American film

My One and Only is a 2009 comedy-drama film loosely based on a story about George Hamilton's early life on the road with his mother and brother, featuring anecdotes that Hamilton had told to producer Robert Kosberg and Merv Griffin. Kosberg pitched the idea of this true story to screenwriter Charlie Peters, then Merv Griffin shepherded the project from screenplay to production, until his death in 2007. Merv Griffin's company served as one of the film's producers and Robert Kosberg executive produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estelle Reiner</span> American actress and singer (1914–2008)

Estelle Reiner was an American actress and singer, described by The New York Times as "matriarch of one of the leading families in American comedy". She was the wife of Carl Reiner and the mother of Rob Reiner.

<i>So Young, So Bad</i> 1950 film by Bernard Vorhaus

So Young, So Bad is a 1950 American drama film. It stars Paul Henreid, and was directed by Bernard Vorhaus.

Phantom of the Rue Morgue is a 1954 American mystery horror film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin and Patricia Medina. The film is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

<i>Nurse 3D</i> 2014 American horror film

Nurse 3D is a 2014 American horror thriller film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and written by Aarniokoski and David Loughery. The film stars Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, and Corbin Bleu. De la Huerta plays Abby Russell, a nurse and serial killer who targets men who cheat on their partners, and who develops an unhealthy relationship with fellow nurse Danni (Bowden).

<i>The Invisible Guardian</i> 2017 film by Fernando González Molina

The Invisible Guardian is a 2017 Spanish thriller film directed by Fernando González Molina based on the eponymous novel by Dolores Redondo. It was followed by two sequels, The Legacy of the Bones and Offering to the Storm.

References

  1. ↑ The Man with Two Brains at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ "Movies You Might Have Missed: Carl Reiner's The Man with Two Brains" . The Independent. June 21, 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Turner Tells All". www.newyorker.com. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  4. ↑ The Man with Two Brains at Rotten Tomatoes
  5. ↑ "The Man with Two Brains". Metacritic . Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "The Man With Two Brains movie review (1983)". Chicago Sun-Times .
  7. ↑ Maslin, Janet (3 June 1983). "Martin in 'Man with 2 Brains'". The New York Times .
  8. ↑ Variety Staff (1 January 1983). "The Man with Two Brains". Variety.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.