Good Burger (1997)

Good Burger is a 1997 American teen comedy film directed by Brian Robbins, written by Dan Schneider with Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, and starring Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, and Abe Vigoda. It is based on the comedy sketch of the same name on the Nickelodeon series All That, with Mitchell reprising his role. The story follows a high school student who takes a job at a fast-food restaurant called Good Burger in order to pay off the damages he made to his teacher's car as he and his dimwitted co-worker stumble upon an evil plot by a rival fast-food restaurant. The film was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Tollin/Robbins Productions, and was 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.

A sequel titled Good Burger 2 was released on November 22, 2023 on Paramount+.

Storyline[]

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 but well meaning cashier Ed alongside its other employees. Initially, neither of them is aware that Ed inadvertently caused Dexter's car crash, as Ed had been rollerblading 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.

When Mondo Burger finally opens, they immediately gain lots of customers with its oversized burgers, hurting Good Burger's business. However, Dexter discovers that Ed makes his own sauce for lunch and suggests adding it to the burgers, which saves Good Burger and vastly increases its sales. Dexter exploits Ed's gullibility to extort money from him so that he can pay off his debt sooner, having him sign a contract that gives Dexter 80% of the bonus he receives for his sauce. 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, while on a double date with Dexter and co-worker Monique, Ed accidentally and clumsily injures her repeatedly, and she quits her job.

The next day, Monique finds Dexter's contract and scolds him for taking advantage of Ed, causing Dexter to feel remorseful and he goes to apologize to Ed, but before he can do so, he and Ed discover a stray dog rejecting a discarded Mondo Burger for a Good Burger. A suspicious Ed and Dexter decide to investigate, infiltrating 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 to prevent them from sharing their discovery. Afterwards, 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 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 commandeer 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 takes multiple cans of Triampathol and pours them into the meat grinder. As Kurt corners Dexter on the roof, Ed suddenly arrives with an empty can just before Mondo Burger collapses, as the burgers start exploding due to the excessive Triampathol, and in the process, 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 using illegal Triampathol. Dexter apologizes to Ed for taking advantage of his salary from the sauce and tears up the contract, telling him that he gets to keep all the profits. Ed and Dexter return to Good Burger, where their coworkers hail them as heroes.

Good Burger (1997)

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