Good Burger is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert. Starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, it is based on the sketch of the same name on All That. The second film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, and first based on a Nickelodeon property, in co-operation with Tollin/Robbins Productions, Good Burger was released worldwide on July 25, 1997, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $23.7 million against a budget of $8.5 million.
Plot[]
On the first day of summer, slacker high school student Dexter Reed takes his mother's car on a joyride while she is away on a business trip but accidentally crashes into and damages both his mother's car and the car of his teacher, Mr. Wheat (Sinbad). Dexter is in danger of going to jail, as he neither has a driver's license nor car insurance. Fortunately, Wheat agrees to let Dexter pay for the damages in exchange for not calling the police on Dexter. With the damages estimated at $1,900, Dexter's forced to get a summer job. After being fired from the new and soon-to-open Mondo Burger restaurant for clashing with the owner and manager, Kurt Bozwell (Jan Schweiterman), he ends up working for Good Burger. There, he meets and reluctantly befriends the dimwitted yet charming cashier Ed (Kel Mitchell) alongside other colorful employees. Initially, neither of them are aware that Ed inadvertently caused Dexter's car accident. Ed had skated in front of Dexter on his way to make a delivery, causing him to swerve and crash into Mr. Wheat's car.
The survival of the smaller Good Burger is threatened by the grand opening of Mondo Burger, with its fancy decoration and oversized burgers. Luckily, Good Burger is saved by a new secret sauce created by Ed. Upon realizing that Ed caused his car accident and learning from Mr. Wheat that the damages from the accident exceed the original $1,900 estimate, Dexter takes advantage of Ed's gullibility to extort money from him so that he can pay off his debt sooner. Ed promptly signs a contract that gives Dexter 80% of his profits.
Ed's sauce vastly increases Good Burger's sales but draws the attention of Kurt, who wants it for Mondo Burger. After failing to lure Ed to Mondo Burger at a higher wage, Kurt sends Roxanne (Carmen Electra), a beautiful employee, to seduce Ed into revealing the sauce recipe. As a result, Roxanne is repeatedly injured by Ed's clumsiness and ultimately quits her job. The next morning, Monique (Shar Jackson) discovers the contract and scolds Dexter for stealing Ed's money, after everything Ed has done for him.
Later, when a dog refuses to eat a discarded Mondo Burger in favor of a discarded Good Burger, Ed and Dexter become suspicious and decide to investigate. They infiltrate Mondo Burger's kitchen and discover that their burgers are artificially enhanced with Triampathol, an illegal food chemical. Kurt discovers them and calls an acquaintance named Wade, who has them committed to an asylum known as Demented Hills so that they can't bring to light their misdeeds.
Afterward, Kurt and his men break into Good Burger and taint Ed's secret sauce with shark poison. Otis (Abe Vigoda), an elderly Good Burger employee who was sleeping on the premises, catches them red-handed, causing Kurt to commit Otis to Demented Hills as well. After Otis informs Ed and Dexter about Kurt's scheme, the three escape Demented Hills and hijack an ice cream truck to head back to Good Burger, arriving just in time to prevent anyone from eating the poisoned sauce.
Ed and Dexter then break into Mondo Burger to expose their chemically induced burgers to the police. Ed tries to take a can of Triampathol while Dexter creates a distraction, but clumsily knocks the last can in a row into the meat grinder. Inspired, Ed pours a second can into the grinder and leaves the kitchen. As Kurt corners Dexter, Ed suddenly arrives with an empty can. Kurt mocks Ed's presumed foolishness, whereupon Ed snidely comments that the can wasn't empty when he found it. Chaos then ensues in the Mondo Burger building, as the burgers begin to explode due to the overuse of Triampathol, completely wrecking the interior. A large artificial burger falls from the display on the rooftop, which ironically lands on and destroys Mr. Wheat's newly-repaired car. Dexter, amused at this, snidely pays a distraught Mr. Wheat about half of the money owed for the original repairs.
In the aftermath, Mondo Burger is destroyed and Kurt is arrested for using the illegal substance and contaminating Good Burger’s sauce. Ed, proving to be smarter than he lets on, explains that if he had simply taken a can to the police, Kurt would've hired lawyers to dispute the charges, and nothing would've been resolved in any reasonable amount of time. So instead, he dumped multiple cans into the meat supply, and let Mondo Burger be destroyed by its own criminal activity. Dexter tears up the contract with Ed and tells him that he gets to keep all the profits from his sauce. Ed and Dexter head back to Good Burger, where they are both welcomed by the other employees as heroes for saving the restaurant.
Credits[]
Cast:
- Kenan Thompson as Dexter Reed
- Kel Mitchell as Ed
- Abe Vigoda as Otis
- Jan Schweiterman as Kurt Bozwell
- Sinbad as Mr. Wheat
- Shar Jackson as Monique
- Dan Schneider as Mr. Baily
- Ron Lester as Spatch
- Lori Beth Denberg as Connie Muldoon
- Josh Server as Fizz
- Ginny Schreiber as Deedee
- Linda Cardellini as Heather
- Shaquille O'Neal as Himself
- George Clinton as a Demented Hills patient.
- Robert Wuhl as an angry customer.
- Carmen Electra as Roxanne
- Marques Houston as Jake, Dexter's high school friend.
- J. August Richards as Griffen
- Hamilton Von Watts as Troy
- Wendy Worthington as the Demented Hills nurse.