Starring: Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, David Warner, Paul Benedict, Richard Brestoff Directed By: Carl Reiner Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Pan & Scan Region Code: 1 Release Date: March 30, 1999 Running Time: 90 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 03, 1983
Description: Widowed, world-famous neurosurgeon Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) is trapped in a loveless marriage with Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner), who is only interested in Hfuhruhurr's money. On a trip to Vienna to attend a medical conference, Hfuhruhurr falls in love with a bottled brain (voiced by Sissy Spacek), and finds himself in the middle of murders committed by the elevator killer. Year: 1983 Director: Carl Reiner Starring: Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, David Warner, Paul Benedict, Richard Brestoff, James Cromwell
Amazon.com essential video: Meet Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin), the famous brain surgeon. Perhaps the name is not unfamiliar, though it is unpronounceable; the good doctor is the inventor of the celebrated "screw-top" method of brain surgery, in which the top of the skull twists off as easily as the lid of a pickle jar. The man may be a medical genius, but his talent for love leaves something to be desired, which explains his marriage to a gold-digging vixen (Kathleen Turner). Ah, but Dr. Hfuhruhurr may yet find true love, in the form of the disembodied brain he discovers in the lab of a mad scientist--David Warner, gone the Frankenstein route. (Lovely image: Hfuhruhurr in a rowboat, taking the brain out for a romantic ride on the lake.) Thus, in its own utterly goofy way, does The Man with Two Brains delve into the eternal dilemma of male indecision: does a man fall in love with a woman's body, or with her mind? Along the way, of course, there are gags both highbrow and very, very lowbrow, a mind-body split that might be why critics have tended to prefer the more sophisticated slapstick of All of Me (directed, like this film, by Carl Reiner) and Roxanne among the early Steve Martin outings. Still, this is one of Martin's funniest pictures, and a game Kathleen Turner, fresh off her Body Heat success, ably spoofs her own sultry image. The cerebral love object is voiced by Sissy Spacek. --Robert Horton
Laugh I had not seen this movie in a long time and it was great to share this movie with my family. I laughed as much today as I did when I saw it last. It was a great buy, would reccomend it to all my friends to see.
My favorite Steve Martin film betrayed by mediocre DVD. I encourage anyone who likes Steve Martin in ANYTHING to get this; I believe it's easily his most consistently funny film, and actually has something to say about relationships. I believe, at the time, "All of Me" was a more "successful" Steve Martin film than this, and conveyed basically the same message. Coming after the funnier and more original "The Man with Two Brains," that film seemed very derivitive and inferior to me. I paid more for the shipping on this purchase from one of the Amazon affiliated sellers than I did for the actual DVD, so I don't feel as bad; but, I would have been willing to pay full going rate if I would have had the option of buying this in the original format, instead. I would feel like a chump to pay more than $2 plus shipping for any motion picture that was re-edited by some hack technician. Given that we are the universe of people who care enough about cinema to buy individual titles on DVD, I am angry that they don't give us enough credit to be willing to watch them in any format other than what fills up a standard aspect ratio television tube. It feels like the only restaurant in town deciding that we, the public, are too pedestrian to appreciate anything that can't be offerred as all-you-can-eat, trough-style.
EXCELLENT film; NO extras This film which is over 20 years old does more than just hold up...it remains a comic masterpiece that bears repeated viewings. Each time you will find a new comic detail...including the name of the window cleaner used to kill people ("Pane in the Glass"). Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner are a comic pair made in heaven. Martin shines as Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, the surgeon who invented the Screw-Top Zip-Lock Brain Surgery Technique. His beloved first wife is already dead; with his car he accidentally hits the wickedly beautiful Delores Benedict (Turner) who has just tortured her rich husband into having a fatal heart attack. The Doctor saves her with his surgery technique and then marries her, under the delusion that she is a sweet woman. She tortures him by witholding sex, sleeping with the hired help, and showing no respect for all that he holds dear. While on a European honeymoon that will hopefully spark their first sexual encounter, the Doctor meets Dr. Alfred Necessiter, a scientist who can transfer the knowledge from a disembodied brain into another body. And where do these dead bodies come from? Why, the infamous European Elevator Killer, of course! The reveal of his identity at the end of the film is sheer comic genius. The Doctor discovers how evil Delores truly is, while at the same time, he finds that he has a telekinetic connection to one of Necessiter's brains in a jar. How it all comes together at the end is perfection. Martin's extremely dry delivery and love of physical comedy is matched by Turner, who doesn't mind getting down and dirty (literally...as she is pushed into the mud when it is learned that she is truly a scheming witch only after the Doctor's inheritance). It is difficult to do justice to this comic masterpiece with a summary, so all I can say is get it! However, this DVD edition has a few major strikes...there are NO extras...not even a friggin' theatrical trailer. The picture is also cropped to full-screen (modified from the original widescreen). On the plus side, the picture is excellent quality. Hopefully at some point Warners will do justice to this film and put out a special edition.
"When are you scheduled to have your hands removed from your face?" This is a silly, raunchy howl of a good time. This has Steve Martin's quintessential humor from the 1980's all over it. Granted, it's an acquired taste, but for fans it's like candy for the brain. Make that two brains.
My favorite film of Martin's is "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" because I love old movies from the 1940's (which he incorporates himself into with clever editing and trick cinematography). If you haven't seen it yet, it's really worth watching.
If you like this movie, I would suggest "Top Secret" with Val Kilmer, and "High Anxiety" with Mel Brooks.
The original "A Beautiful Mind" Hilarious mad scientist spoof! Steve Martin is a brain surgeon (the inventor of the cranial screw-top method), who finds it difficult to love his beautiful, yet impudent wife (Kathleen Turner). Being a man of letters, he is certainly more turned on by a woman's mind than her looks, right? Nah, he is only a man after all. If he could only combine the looks of his wife with a kind and just mind! Memorable scenes and dialogue abound in this one. As with "The Jerk," Martin is again hysterical, though at least here has above-average intelligence. Kathleen Turner is so believable as the insolent wife that it is difficult to separate her from this role. If you are a fan of Martin in his Wild'n'Crazy Guy phase, check out this movie. It is not suitable for children because of language and some sexually-suggestive content. The DVD is not all that great, with no extras and a full screen format. As with "The Jerk," perhaps a 26th anniversary edition of this one? 4.5 stars for the movie, 3.5 for the DVD.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
