Synopsis
Three manic idiots—a lawyer, cab driver and a handyman—team up to run a ballet company to fulfil the will of a millionaire. Stooge-like antics result as the trio try to outwit the rich widow and her scheming big-shot lawyer, who also wants to run the ballet.
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Cast
- Mel SmithRocco Melonchek
- Bob NelsonJacques
- John TurturroRoland T. Flakfizer
- Teri CopleyTina
- George De La PenaRoberto Volare
- John SavidentEdmund Lazlo
- Spike AlexanderAlan Grant
- Juliana DonaldLisa Le Baron (as Juli Donald)
- Nancy MarchandLillian Oglethorpe
- Eddie GriffinMessenger
Recommendations
- 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Like the best Marx Brothers films, Brain Donors has gags for the sake of gags. There's no pretense to plausibility. It's just layers and layers of jokes; some work, some don't. [18 April 1992, p.C3] - 63
Chicago Tribune
A string of slapstick sequences at the end of Brain Donors...finally unleashes its potential for subversive hilarity. But the wait is long and not altogether compensated by Turturro's smooth delivery. - 60
The New York Times
Brain Donors is a short, reasonably snappy attempt at nothing less than a present-day Marx Brothers comedy, - 50
Miami Herald
The movie is quick and breezy for its first half-hour, then seems to grind down to a deadened pace: The actors' routines lose their freshness, and the nonexistent story line becomes apparent. The jokes get worse, too. Fortunately, at 80 minutes, the film is too brief to drag. [21 April 1992, p.E7] - 40
Austin Chronicle
Turturro-Nelson-Smith come across as nothing more than three strangers with an out of synch, watered-down routine that flounders as a pale imitation of their hallowed predecessors. - 40
Los Angeles Times
It's hard to remember when actors have stepped into such a no-win situation and mustered up such panache: Turturro may be on a sinking ship, but he manages to drown brilliantly. - 25
Washington Post
Producers David and Jerry Zucker have shown with "Airplane," "The Naked Gun" and "Top Secret" that they are inspired film parodists. Brain Donors suggests that they are clumsy plagiarists. - 10
Variety
The title Brain Donors sounds like a horror film and for those expecting a comedy, it is.
