Runtime: 1 hr 27 min
Starring: Mark Blankfield, Bess Armstrong, and Krista Errickson
Director: Jerry Belson
Let me get this out of the way: yes, I switched up this blog’s look. I was getting a little tired of the black and green, so I decided to try a lighter look. I’m not in love with the format, but I will figure it out.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.
I’m not sure where things started to go wrong in the 1970s and 1980s. I appreciate the different interpretations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I am very anxious to get back to something that is, I don’t know, scary. I’ll even accept mildly creepy! So, yes, this is another comedy. While it wasn’t nearly as sigh-worthy as some of the other comedies, I was still sighing a whole hell of a lot! I would put it somewhere near Porky’s (1981) and Hardbodies (1984) if anyone needs a comparison of what type of comedy it is. So, keep that in mind if those movies aren’t your thing.
Also, I spent like the first twenty minutes of this film trying to figure out where I know Mark Blankfield from.
The answer is Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).
To be honest, all of these movies are starting to scramble together. Give me a moment to think about this plot so I don’t get it confused with some of the other recent comedic versions I’ve watched.
Dr. Daniel Jekyll decides he no longer wants to be a surgeon, just as one of the richest men in the world, Hubert Howes, decides he wants Dr. Jekyll for a complete transplant. When I say complete transplant, I mean everything must be replaced (even his testicles, as we will later find out in a ridiculous scene). Meanwhile, Dr. Jekyll opts for research over being a surgeon, experimenting with a powder-like substance (a not-so-subtle cocaine reference). I was not really clear on what he’s researching. Something about survival, maybe? Either way, he falls asleep, accidentally sniffs the powder up, and he turns into an overconfident, sex-crazed goober who dresses like a stereotypical idea of how a pimp dressed in that era of film.
So, some of the story elements are there. We have the doctor. We have the transformation. We even have a love triangle. I’m constantly disappointed that there is rarely an Utterson or a Last Will and Testament. I’m not sure which film is the next in line, but I’m really hoping that it’s a scary one.
I also fear I must warn you that, like most 1980s media, the humor didn’t age well. Do with that what you will if you decide to sit and watch this one. Some people may be offended, while others may see it as a product of its time.
Nevertheless, Mark Blankfield is very talented and is the highlight of the movie. He has something charming about him, something that gives him a distinctive on-screen presence.
As for Dr. Jekyll’s will? Well, if he did have one, I’m 100% on board with him leaving me his hair products.
That hair was impressive.
Siemelle
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