Good Burger

***Good Burger*** is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Dan Schneider with Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert. Starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, it is based on the comedy sketch of the same name on the Nickelodeon series *All That* and was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Tollin/Robbins Productions. After being filmed from March to April 1997, it was released worldwide on July 25 of the same year by Paramount Pictures.

The film received mixed reviews from critics but was commercially successful, grossing $23.7 million against a budget of $8.5 million. In the years since its release, *Good Burger* garnered a cult following, particularly among millennials who grew up with the film and the *All That* television series.

A sequel, titled *Good Burger 2,* is scheduled to be released in 2023 on Paramount+.

## 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 is unintentionally involved in a car crash with his school teacher, Mr. Wheat. With no driver's license or car insurance, Dexter is in danger of going to jail, but Mr. Wheat agrees to let him pay for the damage in exchange for not calling the police on him. With the damage estimated at $1,900 (which later becomes $2,500), Dexter decides to take a summer job to pay for the expenses. After being fired from the new and soon-to-open Mondo Burger restaurant for clashing with the owner and manager, Kurt Bozwell, he ends up working for Good Burger instead. There, he meets and reluctantly befriends the dimwitted, slightly nutty, and absent-minded cashier Ed alongside its other employees. Initially, neither of them is aware that Ed inadvertently caused Dexter's car crash; Ed had rollerbladed in front of Dexter while making a delivery, causing him to swerve and crash into Mr. Wheat's car. While both are working together, Dexter realizes that Ed caused his car crash, but eventually forgives him.

The survival of the smaller Good Burger is threatened by the grand opening of Mondo Burger, with its newly built burger chain and oversized burgers. However, Dexter discovers that Ed makes his own sauce for lunch and suggests adding it to the burgers, which saves Good Burger by vastly increasing its sales. Dexter exploits 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 the bonus he receives for his sauce, and Dexter likewise warns Ed against revealing the sauce recipe to anyone. After failing to entice Ed with a higher hourly wage at Mondo Burger, Kurt, who wants the secret sauce for his restaurant, sends an employee named Roxanne to seduce him into revealing the recipe. However, Ed clumsily injures her repeatedly and she ultimately quits her job.

When a dog rejects a discarded Mondo Burger for a discarded Good Burger, a suspicious Ed and Dexter decide to investigate. They infiltrate Mondo Burger's kitchen in disguise and discover that their burgers are artificially enhanced with Triampathol, an illegal food chemical. Kurt discovers them and has them committed to the Demented Hills Asylum, where his acquaintance Wade works as a hospital employee, to prevent them from sharing their discovery. Afterward, Kurt and his henchmen break into Good Burger, find Ed's secret sauce, and begin tainting it with a synthetic toxin called shark poison. Otis, an elderly employee who was sleeping on the premises, catches them red-handed and attempts to call the police, but Kurt sends him to Demented Hills as well. After Otis informs Ed and Dexter about Kurt's scheme, they escape from 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 return to Mondo Burger to expose their crimes to the police. While Dexter creates a distraction, Ed tries to take a can of Triampathol but clumsily knocks another one into the meat grinder. Inspired, he pours another into the grinder. As Kurt corners Dexter on the roof, Ed suddenly arrives with an empty can. As Kurt mocks Ed's actions, Ed snidely comments to Dexter that the can was not empty when he found it. Mondo Burger then starts to collapse, as the burgers start exploding due to the excess Triampathol. A large artificial burger falls from the roof and smashes Mr. Wheat's newly-repaired car. In the aftermath, Mondo Burger is shut down and Kurt is arrested for poisoning Good Burger's sauce and for using illegal Triampathol. Ed then explains to Dexter that he purposely did what he did to prevent Kurt from manipulating the legal system and escaping conviction, ironically responding to Dexter's questions by saying, "I'm not stupid." Dexter apologizes to Ed for taking advantage of the latter's salary from the sauce and both reconcile, with Dexter tearing up the contract with Ed and telling him that he gets to keep all the profits from his sauce. They return to Good Burger, where their coworkers hail them as heroes.

## Why you should eat at Good Burger

1. The slapstick comedy is very well timed. As there's something to laugh at every 5 minutes.
2. Good acting, especially for 90s standards.
3. Likable characters. Ed is a dimwitted yet friendly Good Burger employee, Dexter is a relatable teenager who wants to make up for his past, and so on.
4. Kurt is a well-written villain.
5. The sets for both Good Burger and Mondo Burger look great with so much detail in the buildings.
6. It resembles 90s culture very well. As both R&B and hip hop music can be heard throughout the film.
7. Memorable and quotable dialogue. With lines like "**Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?**", "**I'm a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude, cause we're all dudes!**", "**Whee! Strawberry jacuzzi!**", "**Could somebody drive me to a hospital? I think I broke my ass.**", and more.