The Man with Two Brains

Carl Reiner's 1983 sci-fi comedy hands Steve Martin one of the strangest premises of his career. Martin plays Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, a celebrated brain surgeon who has perfected a method of unscrewing the top of a patient's skull like a jar lid. He's a widower with a romantic streak, and his life gets complicated when he accidentally runs over the beautiful and venomous Dolores Benedict, played by Kathleen Turner in her film debut. Michael marries her out of guilt and infatuation, but the marriage sours immediately. Then, during a trip to Vienna, he visits Dr. Alfred Necessiter's lab, where brains are kept alive in jars. There, he meets Anne, a gentle, intelligent brain voiced by an uncredited Sissy Spacek, and falls hopelessly in love.

Produced by Aspen Film Society and distributed by Warner Bros., the film carried a budget of $10.1 million and grossed about $10 million domestically. It wasn't a hit, but it gained a devoted following. The cast includes David Warner as Necessiter, Paul Benedict as the butler, and James Cromwell in a small role as a realtor. Joel Goldsmith, son of Jerry Goldsmith, composed the score, blending orchestral romance with eerie synth tones. The movie is rated R for adult humor and suggestive content, and it holds a 6.2 rating on IMDb from roughly 495 votes.

Reiner had already directed Martin in The Jerk and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and this third collaboration is often called the most unhinged of the trio. The film's absurd central joke, a man falling for a brain in a jar, is played with total commitment. It's a dark romantic comedy that questions what makes a soulmate, and it has aged into a cult classic that still makes audiences laugh. [edit]

Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr is a renowned brain surgeon with a revolutionary technique. He calls it the cranial screw-top method, and it involves literally unscrewing the top of a patient's skull to operate on the brain. He's a widower, still mourning his first wife, and he approaches his work with a mix of clinical precision and earnest romanticism. The film opens with him performing a complex double-brain surgery, showing off his skill while establishing his slightly pompous demeanor.

One day, he accidentally hits a beautiful woman with his car. That woman is Dolores Benedict, a wealthy, scheming gold-digger who has been married multiple times, each time inheriting her husband's fortune. Michael, feeling guilty and drawn to her beauty, uses his surgical genius to save her life. In a whirlwind of infatuation, he marries her. But the marriage is a disaster from the start. Dolores is cold, manipulative, and openly contemptuous of his romantic overtures. She mocks his affection, spends his money freely, and treats him with cruelty. Michael, desperate to salvage the relationship, suggests a trip to Vienna, a city he associates with romance and the memory of his late wife.

In Vienna, Michael visits the laboratory of Dr. Alfred Necessiter, an eccentric and morally flexible scientist who has developed a method for keeping human brains alive in jars. Suspended in liquid and connected to electrodes, these brains can communicate through a speech synthesizer. Necessiter's work is controversial, but Michael is fascinated. During his visit, he encounters a particularly articulate brain named Anne, who speaks with a gentle, warm voice. Anne was the brain of a woman who was murdered, and Necessiter has preserved her consciousness.

Michael is immediately smitten. Unlike Dolores, who is beautiful but cruel, Anne is intelligent, kind, and genuinely appreciative of his gentle nature. She represents everything he has been searching for. The central conflict emerges: Michael is trapped in a miserable marriage to a physically beautiful but emotionally toxic woman, while he has fallen deeply in love with a disembodied brain. As his affection for Anne grows, he becomes increasingly desperate to find a way to be with her. He consults with Necessiter about the possibility of giving Anne a new body, perhaps even Dolores's body, which he considers borrowing for the purpose.

This macabre scheme sets up the film's darkly comic premise. Michael contemplates murdering his wife so that her body can serve as a vessel for his true love's brain. The absurdity is played for laughs, but the emotional core is genuine. Michael is a romantic idealist trapped in a surreal predicament. Throughout the film, he is aided by a loyal butler and haunted by the memory of his first wife. He also encounters a series of eccentric characters, including a gun seller who offers increasingly absurd weapons for his planned crime, and an inspector who begins to suspect his intentions. The film builds toward a climax that will force Michael to choose between his conventional life with Dolores and his unconventional love for Anne.[edit]