Then there is Brain Donors. Executive produced by the Zucker Brothers – David and Jerry – of Airplane! fame and attempting to drag the classic screwball comedy of the 30s and 40s into the contemporary setting of 1992, this little seen gem was lost amongst the shuffle of bigger, more ballyhooed titles. Many critics dismissed it outright as a blatant rip-off of what the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges did so effortlessly. Yet Brain Donors, for all its retrograde reliance on the past, is a delight. What it lacked in popularity, it made up for in heart, humor and chutzpah. Now back on DVD in a typical barebones release from Paramount, we have a second chance to appreciate the wildly anarchic qualities of this incredibly dumb, fun comedy.

The DVD:
When her wealthy husband kicks the bucket, Lillian Oglethorpe requires cracker-jack legal advice. But instead of turning to family lawyer, the sneaky shyster Lazlo, she calls on an old acquaintance, an ambulance-chasing charlatan by the name of Roland T. Flakfizer. Thanks to the efforts of a good-natured, quick thinking cab driver named Rocco Melonchek and Mr. Oglethorpe's beloved groundskeeper, the childlike Jacques, Roland is located and brought to the estate. He arrives in time to hear that the late billionaire has left all his money to his wife...and wants her to start a ballet company with it. Mrs. Oglethorpe, a wealthy dowager if ever there was one, agrees to hire Roland as the artistic director of the organization. The aesthetically inept attorney immediately hires Jacques and Rocco as his assistants. Ms. Oglethorpe sets out a very important condition for their continued employment. They must secure the legendary dancer Volare as the lead soloist for the troupe. Naturally, Lazlo wants Flakfizer and his phalanx of phonies to fail, so he gets to Volare first and undermines Roland's chances. With Plan A out the window, the boys turn to Plan B. The lead ballerina, Lisa, has a boyfriend named Alan who is, himself, a terrific dancer. They try to pass him off onto Mrs. Oglethorpe, but she has her heart set on Volare. As opening night approaches, Lazlo pulls out all the stops in his desire to derail Flakfizer. But Roland and the boys have a few last minute tricks up their sleeves. It's a struggle between the sinister and the stupid to see who will make the attending audience happy. It's up to these bumbling Brain Donors to successfully thwart Volare and Lazlo, or face the shame of losing everything they've connived and lied for.

There's only one way to describe Brain Donors, and it goes a little something like this: take a few jiggers of A Night at the Opera, add in a small smidgen of the Marx Brothers manic surrealism, sprinkle on a liberal portion of the Three Stooges, combine with some shots of Abbott and Costello, The Ritz Brothers and The Bowery Boys, garnish with a twist of Naked Gun and Top Secret and pour over a tall glass of self-effacing irony and you've made one heady, hilarious cocktail. Brain Donors is funny – it is not sophisticated funny, or sophomoric funny or even spoof-goofy funny. Nope, Brain Donors sets out simply to make you laugh effortless without lots of hard work or deep thought - and it manages this merry feat magnificently. Had it been judged on its own merits and not measured up against the entities of the past that it was championing/stealing from, it would be one of the more highly regarded comedies of the last decade. But since it featured a mostly no name cast (John Turturro is about the biggest star here) and was minted out of a decidedly old fashioned cinematic genre – the slapstick, screwball farce – it took a unique kind of humor hound to cuddle up to this craziness. Sadly, most of the public ignored it, and like most movies that fail to make even the faintest impact, it was cast into the realm of little remembered and nearly gone for good.

It's really too bad. This is an inventive, infectious piece of delirium that works overtime to keep you both entertained and enraptured. Sure, Turturro is no Groucho...he's not even a convincing Moe. In many ways, he is a friendly, frantic reminder of how actors once interpreted the role of lunkhead leader. Complete with cockamamie name and a sharp tongue, Turturro's Roland T. Flakfizer is a combination of Mr. Marx and Mr. Howard, with a bit of W. C Fields and Fred Allen tossed in for good measure. Fast-talking and playing off both the other actors and the audience, he is pure comic gold. But if he's unsuccessful at sucking you into this stupidity, you will spend a great deal of Brain Donors brief running time feeling bored. As his cohort in chaos, Mel Stuart's conniving con artist Rocco (a cockney combination of Curly and Chico) is a role the British actor realizes very well. He tends to play around the edges of the scenes, not really fully integrated into all the showboating going on. Still he shines whenever the focus falls on him. Then there is Bob Nelson, attempting to essay the near impossible feat of combining Larry Fine, Harpo Marx and all other naive innocents into his partly pantomime interpretation of Jacques. Nelson was, at one time, a very hot standup comic, relying on a routine that combined props and insane characterizations to leave the audience in stitches. Here, he still has many incidental items to work with. But without the requisite verbalizations, he is all facial gestures (many of which are very clever). He may be the weakest link in the trio of talents, but he still holds up his end of the bargain beautifully. Together, we get a group of wisecracking wannabes, modern men trying to take on the classic mantle of the talented triptychs from the past.

Happily, these actors – along with their director Dennis Dugan and screenwriter Pat Proft – find a way to circumvent the previous comparisons and present their own version of the witless wackos out to make a fast buck. Comedy is all about timing and this movie moves on a wild warp drive of delirium. Turturro – who should really do more work in outrageous laugh fests – is amazing, spewing his one-liners and put downs with perfectly cracked calibration. When he gets the chance, Stuart trades on his good old bloke body language to suggest awkwardness and grace. Nelson has a couple of set piece situations (he produces an entire computer cubicle from out of his pocket) that offer him an opportunity to dazzle. With a reliance on the solid slapstick of old school Hollywood, with several sensational sexual innuendos, Brain Donors finds its nattering niche and never slows down to breath. Even during the ballet scenes, which comprise the last 20 minutes of the narrative, the makers of this movie find new and novel ways of inserting more thrilling insanity. If there is a lone letdown in this film, it's the lack of a stellar supporting cast. Everyone here is either a virtual unknown or an actual trained dancer (George De La Pena, who plays the evil Volare was a soloist for the American Ballet Theater). Unlike other ZAZ productions, there is a dearth of recognizable cameos or strange ancillary players (Stephen Stucker, anyone?). Indeed, the entire enterprise feels more like a labor of love than your usual studio outing.

Keeping within its homage parameters, Brain Donors does require a bit of backstory for you to fully appreciate its attempts. If you are not well versed in the Marx Brothers brand of moviemaking, or the surreal, stream of consciousness that flowed from the screen (or stage) whenever Minnie's boys bantered and brawled, you'll miss a little of the subtle skill and sharpness of this manic mess. Also, it will take a couple of viewings to digest all that Brain Donors has to offer. Gags fly by so fast, with the occasional joke sometimes suggesting one thing when it really describes another, that you'll need at least two viewings to absorb all the antics. Don't expect the plot to make much sense – it is purposefully convoluted and constantly swerving between the truth of the situations and the fantasy of the personalities involved to make its point. And if you don't like ballet, you may feel your rump getting a little rambunctious during the two serious dance montages presented during the picture. Indeed, even at a breakneck pace, Brain Donors can feel both rushed and relaxed. The first five minutes of the movie are a marvelous claymation wonder by renowned artist Will Vinton (the producers obviously liked his work so much they use more of said stop motion magic to end the film) and once we meet Roland, the story never stops. Still, there are some scenes that just whiz by as if they've been sped up, while others almost overstay their welcome (the bimbo in the bedroom comes to mind).

Combining elements of classic farce, two reel comic shorts, varied verbal witticisms and easy-to-identify-with character sketches, Brain Donors is a very funny film that deserves a much broader appeal. It is easy to see how fans of more sophisticated humor would dismiss this dumbness. And those now convinced that the only good joke is one founded in the bad taste, gross-out gratuity of the Farrelly Brothers will definitely dismiss this PG product as passé. That's a shame, since Brain Donors cries out to be appreciated. It offers up one of Turturro's best performances (he's like Barton Fink channeling a churlish carnival barker) and celebrates a style of comedy that hasn't been explored since the early days of television. Some may be put off by the mallet-over-the-head manner of the methodology here, and all praise aside, this is by no means a perfect film. But if you are looking for a truly forgotten comedy, one with a great deal of creativity and energy, then Brain Donors is your newest nonsensical discovery. While it may not find a place in the pantheon of classic trio treasures, it's better than most of the moldering amusements that call themselves humorous in today's tired marketplace. So pull up a chair and check your gray matter at the door. These bumbling chuckleheads have a bright bit of balderdash they can bestow upon you. And you'll be glad you accepted the endowment.

Video:
Vibrant and colorful with excellent contrasts and correction, the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image for Brain Donors is flawless. Unlike the past pan and scan video versions of the film that blur so violently in their attempt to capture all the action, this amazing letterbox print lets us appreciate both the hyperactive hi-jinx and the expertly framed compositions utilized by director Dugan. Indeed, all the cinematic elements here help to increase the humor.

The Audio:
Presented in a brand new, Dolby Digital 5.1 aural offering as well as the standard Dolby Digital Stereo, Brain Donors sounds delightful in its digital transfer. The 5.1 is crystal clear and faultlessly modulated. The stereo is equally good, if not quite as atmospheric as the remastered channel-challenging mode (especially in the theater scenes). While it would have been nice to have a more immersive experience, the musical score by Ira Newborn is well served by this symphony-enhancing experience.

The Extras:
Showing how little faith Paramount had and still has in this title, Brain Donors comes to us in the barest of boneless presentations. No trailer, no biography or filmography information – we don't even get Paramount's usual self-promoting commercials before the menu appears. As a mostly ignored motion picture, the pathetic Peak People should have realized that some amount of added content was necessary to push and publicize this product. First and foremost, it would have been nice to hear Turturro, Stuart and Nelson in a full-fledged, scene specific commentary. There must be some wonderful backstage stories and making-of memories worth sharing with a faithful fan base. Or how about a few interviews, updating us on what the "less famous' cast members have been up to. Both Dennis Dugan and Pat Proft should have been given a chance to defend themselves, as well as talk about what it was like to work so hard on a film and then have it go so completely unnoticed. Mostly, Paramount needs to realize that people with a vague interest in overlooked titles like these need more than the movie as a selling point. While it may cost a couple of bucks to put together, at least it will pay off in generating an awareness level beyond the ardent fan. Empty DVDs do not make for contented DVD owners.

Final Thoughts:
Anyone who is a fan of the Marxes or the Stooges will absolutely adore Brain Donors. Just don't except it to be up to the level of the Brothers' acerbic anarchy. And there is very little of Moe, Larry and Curly's classic poke, slap and gouge gymnastics here. For all its deference to the comedies of cinema's past, this film is actually a very up to date dissection of the merriment missing in most motion picture humoresques. Indeed, Brain Donors feels ahead of its time, a film that functions as a clever combination of the types of wit from all the generations that came before it. In the persons of Roland T. Flakfizer, Rocco Melonchek and Jacques (was it so hard to give him a last name? Even Harpo had Marx and Larry had Fine), 1992 was given a chance to embrace a new ideal in idiocy, a triumvirate of dummies designed out of cleverness, not crudeness. Naturally, the public rejected it. All great art is unappreciated in its time. Well, it's 12 years later and the opportunity is here to embrace Brain Donors, to resurrect its lack of legitimacy and render it reborn into a world that just may be ready to accept it. So if you're tired of movies that promise big laughs but only deliver the same old stool-inspired futility, then make room for these brainless bringers of bedlam. They will teach you that silliness and stupidity don't have to be retarded. They can congeal into a marvelous, merry motion picture. Now, if we could just get Lucky Stiff on the digital domain...

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