Pretty sure that this movie is trying to say something about a product that was really popular in the ’80s. I don’t know exactly what it was but I’m gonna guess it’s fluffernutter or maybe TCBY yogurt.
So some old timer at a local mine discovers a white substance bubbling up from the ground. Naturally, his first instinct is to … taste it. Upon finding out that it tastes great, he then takes this product and mass markets it. Flash forward, some unknown amount of time, and “The Stuff” is the biggest selling product in America. It’s so big that the ice cream industry is looking to find a way to shut down the project. They hire an ex FBI agent, turned industrial saboteur, David “Mo” Rutherford. At the same time, little Jason sees a container of the stuff move in his fridge and refuses to eat it, but decides that it should be completely destroyed.
Mo goes out and begins to research not only what “The Stuff” is but where it came from. He finds that everyone is very hesitant to talk about it, and it’s origins. Following some hints, he finds a fellow investigator in Charles “Chocolate Chip Charlie” Hobbs. Hobbs too has last his business in the wake of the stuff coming to market. So now Mo, Hobbs, Jason, and the marketing lead for The Stuff have teamed up to get to the bottom of this mysterious product and its hold on America. The trail they follow leads them down a path that is filled with murder, governmental coverups and lots and lots of white… stuff.
The Stuff, from the very introduction of Mo Rutherford, felt like it was a horror movie written for Chevy Chase. I said it on twitter and I say it again here, it feels like Fletch Lives but with a horror movie spin. I didn’t like his character but it grew on me over the course of the movie. Garrett Morris showing up basically as the token black guy was pretty funny. Obviously, he showed up as the comic relief. Oh and he can literally punch the faces of dudes.
There is nothing really scary about The Stuff until you start to equate it to things in your life right now. If the movie had been made current, it would be about an energy drink. It gives the viewer something to think about, like it or not. For example; what is in those energy drinks that people love so much, like Four Hour Energy? It very much holds up a mirror to society as a whole and forces people to ask what they are putting in their bodies. I really think the writer and director were trying to use this as an allegory for something, I just don’t specifically know what it was.
For all it’s faults and cheese, The Stuff isn’t really all that bad a movie. It toes the line between horror and comedy but never allows itself to fall too far one way or the other. With lines like “we have to keep the world safe for ice cream,” it’s hard to take it completely seriously. There are a lot of actors in this movie everyone will know like Paul Sorvino, Danny Aiello, and yes Garrett Morris. Hell, there was a throwaway commercial shown that had Clara “Where’s the Beef” Peller and Abe Vigoda in it. This is one of those movies that I could watch again and again because it just strikes a good balance but never really excels anywhere.
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