Familiar faces lift 'Strangers with Candy'

Fortunately in comedy, neatness does not count.

Consider the low-budget Strangers with Candy, a spinoff prequel from the Comedy Central series of five years ago, a messy hodgepodge of skits and bits that has the compensation of also being very funny. Comedy is highly subjective, so not everyone will agree, but fans of the movie's star and co-writer Amy Sedaris will likely be amused at how well she and her sour-faced, buck-toothed alter ego, Jerri Blank, have segued to the big screen.

ThinkFilm 'Strangers With Candy' B The verdict: Sedaris sends up high school comedies in this big-screen version of her Comedy Central series. Director: Paul Dinello Starring: Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker Run time: 87 minutes Release date: June 28, 2006 Rating: R for sexual content, language and some drug material. See showtimes Meet Amy Sedaris For the star of 'Strangers with Candy,' comedy comes naturally. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Strangers With Candy'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Perhaps it is the lack of slickness that makes the difference, because Strangers with Candy is not much different from the parade of mindless comedies from such lowbrow jokesters as Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider. Such is the hair-splitting gut reaction to what is and is not funny.

Jerri, a 47-year-old self-described "junkie-whore," begins the movie being released from a 32-year stint in prison, returning home to find her father (Dan Hedaya) in a coma. When his doctor persuades Jerri that she can help bring her dad back to consciousness by resuming her life where she left off, she blithely re-enrolls at Flatpoint High. Yeah, it does not make much sense, but just go along with it.

The central joke is that high school is far more cruel and cutthroat than anything Jerri encountered in lockup. The students are self-absorbed and mean-spirited, but somehow never notice how much older this new student is.

Reuniting with Sedaris are her television co-writers, Stephen Colbert (of the tongue-in-cheek Colbert Report) and Paul Dinello (who doubles as the film's director). Make that triples, since Dinello also plays hippy-dippy art teacher Geoffrey Jellineck, who is carrying on an affair with born-again Christian science teacher Chuck Noblet (Colbert).

Yes, such corner-cutting casting does give the movie the taint of a vanity production, but that is well counteracted by a stellar supporting cast of cameos that include Matthew Broderick, as a conniving rival science teacher, and his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, as a terribly misguided guidance counselor. Recent Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and many-time Emmy winner Allison Janney (The West Wing) show up as bemused school board members.

Sedaris has not given herself a particularly challenging role, but she manages to wring plenty of laughs out of Jerri's mugging. Carlo Alban (seen locally in Florida Stage's Ice Glen last season) is likable as Jerri's wannabe friend with the improbable name of Megawatti Sacarnaputri.

The script contains some clever lines, though they are often overshadowed by the broad sexual humor. The fun starts flagging in the movie's late minutes, but at just under an hour-and-a-half, it ends before Strangers with Candy wears out its welcome.