Director Carl Reiner and Steve Martin teamed up for this funny science-fiction spoof with Martin as a pioneering brain surgeon victimized by his gold-digging new wife (Kathleen Turner). When the two combine Martin’s medical convention trip with their honeymoon, they learn the city of Vienna is being terrorized by the Elevator Killer. Just by chance, Martin runs into a mad scientist (David Warner) who has found a way to keep brains alive in jars. He’s been recycling the grey matter from the Elevator Killer’s victims, and when Martin visits his lab, he falls in love with a female brain (voiced by an uncredited Sissy Spacek). Coincidentally, Martin’s vicious new wife, Turner, is the Elevator Killer’s next victim. Can you tell where we’re going with all this?
“This is the most assured and hilarious of the three Martin-Carl Reiner collaborations.” – Richard Schickel, Time
“Hilarious. Underrated Martin.” – Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
“Martin wasn’t a particularly dirty comic on his various albums, but The Man With Two Brains is brazenly R-rated, hilariously filthy, and the film feels like it could have only happened with [Steve Martin and Carl Reiner] working together.” – Drew McWeeny, HitFix
Tim Lucas discusses The Man With Two Brains on the New Beverly blog.
