Few comedy actors can be as brilliant as Steve Martin when he's on top of his game. During the "wild and crazy" part of his film career, when he often collaborated with director Carl Reiner, he practically raised silliness to an art form. "The Man with Two Brains" is undeniably dopey, but it's hilariously so, coming up with enough verbal and visual gags to sustain it through an energetic hour and a half. The very funny script (by Steve, Carl, and George Gipe, the latter a writer whose works include the novelizations of "Gremlins" and "Back to the Future") can't help but lose some momentum as it goes along, but it remains quite watchable through to the end.

Steve is a hoot as the brilliant (according to him) brain surgeon Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, who has pioneered "screw top, zip lock" brain surgery. Into his life comes sultry, scheming witch Dolores Benedict (a radiant Kathleen Turner),who treats him like garbage. A ray of hope then enters his life when he falls in love with a brain in a jar, voiced by Sissy Spacek. He then goes about figuring out how to create a new "home" for the brain, whose name is Anne.

Steve, Carl, and company show that it takes very clever, and intelligent, comic minds to come up with such engaging foolishness. While the film does exhaust most of its best gags in the earlier parts, it's so wonderfully played by all that it still wins you over. The delivery of the lines is often breathless. As has probably been said numerous times before, two of the best bits involve the decor of Dr. Necessiters' (David Warner) condo, which looks like a much more traditional mad scientists' lab on the inside, and the identity of the fiendish Elevator Killer, once of the most priceless payoffs that you'll see in a film of this kind.

A rich variety of familiar faces pop up to lend Steve able support: Paul Benedict, Richard Brestoff, James Cromwell, George Furth, Earl Boen, Francis X. McCarthy, Randi Brooks (as the drop dead gorgeous hooker with the off-putting voice),Bernard Behrens, etc. Carls' wife Estelle, who went on to have that great cameo in their son Robs' film "When Harry Met Sally", appears as a tourist / victim; Jeffrey Combs, pre "Re-Animator", has a bit at about the seven to eight minute mark.

Zany fun, with a funky electronic score by Joel Goldsmith, that is perfect for anybody who just wants to relax their brain for 90 minutes of levity.

Eight out of 10.

Wow, was this an incredibly funny and incredibly uneven film. Like THE JERK, this is a certain roughness about the script that make it very fresh and appealing but also pretty amateurish and stupid from time to time as well.

Also, when I saw the film, I watched it with my grandfather. This was a very uncomfortable experience, as seeing an adult comedy with nudity in it with an 80 year-old relative just seems creepy. But, he sure laughed his head off, so I guess I was just the one with the hangup.

Anyways, Steve Martin plays one of the foremost brain surgeons, Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (pronounced "Hrrrr-rrrr-rrr). The way everyone had trouble pronouncing the name was pretty lame and was beaten like a dead horse. Well, despite this, the doctor has perfected the new "screw top" method of surgery and saves a beautiful lady (Kathleen Turner) from sure death.

They fall in love and marry soon after. But, Kathleen seems intent on driving the doctor crazy, as she never seems willing to consummate their marriage. This lead to some very funny but crude jokes, by the way. However, despite her many excuses, he catches her being unfaithful many times and yet can't bring himself to divorce her.

It is during this same time that he meets a very strange man, Dr. Alfred Necessiter (David Warner) who is doing unethical experiments with brains--wanting to put them in new bodies and revive them after the bodies had died. Necessiter's lab, by the way, is the coolest on the planet--you'll just have to see it to understand what I mean. For some inexplicable reason, Dr. Hfuhruhurr hears a voice coming from one of the brains! It seems they brain isn't quite dead and they fall in love (the scenes of them out on dates are priceless).

But, what to do about the evil and unfaithful wife as well as this brain he's fallen for?!? Yep, you gotcha, the "Windex Killer" helps solve the problem and almost everyone lives happily ever after. And, since you probably have no idea what all this means, watch the movie yourself to find out and laugh out loud at all the silliness and high energy.

You either love or hate Man with Two Brains. Personally I love it and consider it one of Steve Martin's best. Speaking of Martin, he also gives one of his best performances in Man with Two Brains as Doctor Hfuruhurr as he gets to read his favourite poem, conduct a citizen's divorce and endure the world's toughest drink-driving test. Sissy Spacek is believable as the brain Martin falls in love with and Kathaleen Turner hilariously sends up her femme fatale persona, something she established in Body Heat. Man with Two Brains is well filmed, well directed and has a funny script and engaging story. Overall, sublime all round. 10/10 Bethany Cox