Good Burger
25th Anniversary Steelbook Edition
review by Bobby Blakey
Before Kennan Thompson was a major player on SNL and his own hit series Kenan he was teamed up with the always funny Kel Mitchell for their own series Kenan and Kel that spun out of the sketch comedy series All That. One of the sketches out of All That was always a favorite of fans was Good Burger. In 1997 the duo reteamed for a big screen version of the sketch aptly titled Good Burger and co-starred Abe Vigoda, Sinbad, Shar Jackson, Linda Cardellini, and George Clinton from Ready to Rumble and Vasity Blues director Brian Robbins.
Good Burger follows Dexter Reed, a high-schooler who is forced to get a summer job at a fast food restaurant called Good Burger after causing a car wreck by his school teacher Mr. Wheat. So Dexter must pay off his teacher's car by working very hard at Good Burger. Meanwhile things turned worse when Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-food chain opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is soon going to be history for good! Now it is up to Dexter and his new friend Ed the not-so bright cashier to save the day, as they develop a delicious special secret sauce that Ed created brings hundreds of new customers to their door and makes their new competition desperate to steal the recipe and all of their customers.
I admit that while a fan of the sketch on All That I was not a fan of this film when it originally came out. Honestly not sure why since it is the exactly the silly kind of film I usually love. I am so glad that my past thoughts about this film didn’t keep me from diving back in because it is such a silly fun flick. The movie is over the top ridiculous in the best way possible and screams of these types of flicks that hit in the 80s and 90s. Right out the gate it brings the laughs and lets you know it completely knows what kind of film this is
and they are fully embracing it right to the goofy end.
I know they have both gone onto big careers I always thought that Kel Mitchell was going to be the bigger star with his all in performances, especially in this film as Ed. He steals this movie with his innocent and loveable demeanor while being a character that is just laughably dumb. What is funny is that he is just who he is and it is never taken in a direction of him to be ashamed of that. Instead he fully embraces the absurdity and dives right in with quick quips, drag and everything in between. Thompson is great as well as the straight man, but he gets numerous times to stretch his comedic chops and it is no wonder he has become so big.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this fun fan favorite film Paramount is bringing the film home with an all-new Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray that offers up bonus content including the original “Good Burger” sketch from All-That. Head back to Good Buger, Home of the Good Burger that’s ready to take your order available now from Paramount.