Good Burger . Memphis Flyer . 08-04-97

Good Burger

DIRECTED BY: Brian Robbins

REVIEWED: 08-04-97

KENAN THOMPSON AND KEL Mitchell, the Nickelodeon network's comedy-duo du jour, have made their first film. Good Burger is targeted to K & K's faithful audience -- an unusually wide age-range of children, approximately 5 to 13. A trip to the local multiplex to see this bit of summer silliness will give (a) the kids something to talk about and silly bits to reenact for a couple of weeks and (b) accompanying adults -- at least those not worn out by their charges and/or the heat and simply grateful to be sitting in a dark, cool place -- a chance to contemplate some interesting cultural demographics.

It's a stretch to say there's a story, but the premise for this extended series of silly wordplay, sight gags, and slapstick is that wheeler-dealer Dexter (Kenan) is forced to take a summer job at Good Burger in order to pay for car repairs after having a wreck while joyriding. There he teams with regular Good Burger employee, the spaced-out buffoon Ed (Kel), to fight an evil plot by their new, nearby competitor, Mondo Burger, a hi-tech factory run by a fast-food fascist named Kurt (Jan Schwieterman).

The most encouraging aspect of the audience for these two silly guys and their particularly goofy brand of adolescence is its apparent color-blindness. At a time when media stratification of markets by race has never been more cynical and insidious (and usually driven by the lowest possible denominators), K & K, who are black, appeal to kids of all races. Similarly, their audiences are not tightly defined by economic strata. Kenan and Kel's characters in Good Burger derive from one of their recurring Nickelodeon program sketches and are vaguely middle-class. A bit more troubling, or at least worth contemplating, is the age spread of the kids who follow these guys' shenanigans. It is indicative, at least in part, of how difficult it is for interested parents to locate acceptable -- not to mention positive, nurturing, or challenging -- television and film for their children. Most 5-year-olds could not possibly understand the verbal humor (such as it is) in Good Burger and most 13-year-olds would likely be on the cusp of finding K & K's puerile physical shtick like, totally, uncool. Interested parents may find themselves considering the nature of the comedy that holds the avid interest of those in between. Is it just all-in-good-fun Little Rascals-type stuff or is it one more hard-call case of questionable role-modeling? Is Ed one more persona that champions dumbing-down and Dexter one more pre-teen populist tribute to irresponsibility and life-as-scam?

--Hadley Hury

Full Length Reviews
Good Burger
Good Burger

Capsule Reviews
Good Burger

Other Films by Brian Robbins
Varsity Blues

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