I have lately been engaged in studying a little bit about the linguistic
changes in Eastern Europe post-Glasnost, and I have been amazed by how rapidly
English terms have started taking over the languages of the former Soviet
Union. And it's curious that the locals sometimes attach completely different
meanings to these words. Let's take, for example, the Russian adjective "nationallampooni,"
which means "of inferior quality; juvenile." Remember that those poor commie
bastards only know what the Lampoon has put out since the late 80s. They never
saw Animal House or Vacation, and they are completely unfamiliar with the
brilliant first few years of the magazine.
Instead they have encountered a steady stream of films which have full
titles beginning with "National Lampoon presents" and continuing with such
verbiage as:
- Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo
- Dorm Daze 2
- The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell
- RoboDoc
RoboDoc is about a corporation which takes
medicine to the next level with ... well, with a RoboDoc, an android who has
been programmed with the full sum of mankind's medical knowledge housed inside
a healthy young human male form. He can provide diagnosis, surgery,
anesthesia, rehab, and anything else that is necessary, including coffee. He
even performs cosmetic surgery at no additional cost, so when ordinary people
come to him with a tummy ache, they go home not only cured, but looking like
fitness buffs and movie stars. He works 24/7, moves at tremendous speed, and
never makes a mistake.
To the screenwriters' credit, RoboDoc is not
presented as a villain. Instead he is a sympathetic character, like Data in
Star Trek TNG. In fact, EXACTLY like that. He looks like Data and is
constantly trying to learn how to be more "human." The villains of the film
are the egotistical surgeons and shyster malpractice lawyers who see the
perfectly efficient RoboDoc as a threat to their various financial schemes and
scams.
That's about the only kinda-nice thing I'll have to say. The ideas are unoriginal
and the jokes delivered poorly. Not that it matters much because only about 1%
of the alleged jokes are actually funny to begin with. The characters are made of cardboard. The presentation is essentially identical to
what you'd expect from a low budget C-list sitcom, and it stars exactly the
people you'd expect in such an enterprise: Bud Bundy (as played by David
Faustino), Parker Lewis (Corin Nemec), and Dr. Seaver (Alan Thicke). Not
surprisingly, the producers of the film were Bud Bundy and Parker Lewis.
Astoundingly, Alan Thicke managed somehow to get a role without paying to
play.
