When Grant Boyer's
satellite TV dish is hit by two birds in mid-
coitus, just days before his own
wedding, he gains a
special secret power. His
imagination is no longer something that just goes on in his head - whatever he
imagines actually
happens in
real life.
Sexual fantasies,
daydreams, flashes of random weirdness, they all come true, brought into being by a strange
nodule at the back of his neck, the base of his
brain.
Bill Plympton's wonderful animated feature film starts with a couple of everyday themes - the problems of a couple adjusting to married life, and the importance of the imagination - grabs them, shakes them up real hard, and turns them into an endlessly inventive, funny and sometimes gross experience. At first Grant's problems are domestic: his wife Keri (Keri and Grant, yes) is upset by the change that has come over him. During sex he fantasises about her as a nun, turns her breasts into balloon animals and imagines he's making love to three of her simultaneously. So she goes to live with her parents.
The film draws on a lot of traditions - underground comics, splatter movies, 1960s American situation comedies. It is Grant's dim-witted neighbor Bud, straight out of some mutant sit-com, who starts Grant and Keri's real troubles. After Bud is nearly killed by a giant blade of grass that has stolen his lawnmower and is out for vengeance, Grant finds himself on television and becomes a target for SmileCorp.
SmileCorp, the fourth-biggest US television network, is in trouble with plunging ratings and imbecilic program-makers who come up with ideas like "Amoeba Wrestling" and "Rocks in Love". So stealing Grant's nodule seems their only hope; and they put their vast private army on the case, promptly destroying Bud's garden - "Ma pissing bumble-bee fountain! Ma ducks plucking elf eyes bird bath!" With everyone after the power of Grant's imagination, chaos is guaranteed.
Will Grant hold onto his powers? Or will they be stolen by evil SmileCorp station boss Larson P Giles? Will Colonel Ferguson get the nodule and a 50-foot-long groin gun? Will Grant and Keri patch up their differences? Will the lawn strike back? How do you undress a beautiful woman? Oh, and, "have you ever tried to tell a 50-ton tank to stop having sex?"
For fans of the bizarre, of adult humor and cartoonish gore, I Married A Strange Person! is a must-see. Although bits are gross or sexually-explicit, and more bits are silly, it carries a strong plot and an innocent belief in love and creativity. Added to that are the constant visual invention, great songs by Maureen McElheron, and an endless stream of fantastical ideas. There's more style, fun, warmth and intelligence than almost any live action film. And you'll find out where belly button lint comes from.
Credits
Charis Michelsen - Keri Boyer
Tom Larson - Grant Boyer
Richard Spire - Larson P. Giles
Chris Cooke - Col Ferguson
Ruth Ray - Keri's Mom
J. B. Adams - Keri's Dad
John Russo Jr - Bud Sweeny
Jennifer Senko - Smiley
Produced, directed and animated by Bill Plympton
Written by P.C. Vey and Bill Plympton
Songs by Maureen McElheron
Director of Photography - John Donnelly
Editor - Anthony Arcidi
Sound Editor - David Rovin
USA, 1997.