''Senseless'' is a 1998 American

buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...

comedy science fiction Science fiction comedy (sci-fi comedy) or comic science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that exploits the science-fiction (SF) genre's conventions for comedic effect. Comic science fiction often mocks or satirizes stand ...

film directed by

Penelope Spheeris Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decline of ...

and written by Greg Erb and

Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born April 8, 1971) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for creating the five-part HBO miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'', based on the Chernobyl disaster, nuclear disaster of the same name in ...

. The film stars

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wa ...

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

, and

Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in ''Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in ''Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Punk ...

as college students.

Plot

Darryl Witherspoon (

) is an

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

student at Stratford University, who does not have the advantages of his wealthy nemesis, Scott Thorpe (

), or his best friend Tim LaFlour (

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

punk rocker who has a hockey

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. Darryl is so broke he donates four pints of blood in one day (playing a different character each time) and four vials of sperm in one day. Darryl's big break comes when he enters a competition, where the winner gets a high-paying

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

job. But when Scott enters the competition, it seems Darryl's break has gone down the drain. He takes on a high-paying

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into Causality, cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome oc ...

to test a drug that enhances the five senses. Darryl uses it to his advantage and he impresses the competition's supervisor, Mr. Tyson (

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

) and he even joins the hockey team as a goalie. But after taking an extra dose one night, he experiences

side effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequence ...

s. The experiment's supervisor, Dr. Thomas Wheedon (

Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...

), tells Darryl only four of his senses will work at a time until the drug leaves his body. As Darryl struggles, Tim thinks that his friend is on

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

and gets worried about him. Darryl's luck then starts going down the drain as he loses the hockey game because his sense of sight is lost. He also mistakenly confesses love to his girlfriend's father who he thinks is his girlfriend as his sense of sight is lost. Her father turns out to be Mr. Tyson. He also acts very clumsily (because of the loss of the ability to feel) during the basketball game he is invited to see with a client who needs to be impressed in order for Darryl to score some points with the Smythe-Bates guys. Luckily, the client thinks Darryl is just funny and signs a contract with the company. As the story progresses, Darryl asks his friend Tim to help him study for the next day's interview. At that exact moment, Scott studies for the test with the aid of his rich father's employees. Scott is shown to answer a question correctly but he does not know the reason behind it, he ignores the question. The next day, the drug leaves Darryl's system and now all his five senses operate normally. During the interview, it comes down to Darryl and Scott, Scott is asked the same question he was asked last night, he answers it correctly, but when asked the reason, he does not know, Darryl steps in, gives the correct reason and scores the position of junior analyst at Smythe-Bates. But in his speech, he confesses that he cheated by taking an experimental drug. A meeting is called to decide his fate and Mr. Tyson tells him that he himself started out in the mail room and Darryl should too, if he serves one year duty in the mail room, he will score the position of junior analyst. The story skips a year and Darryl is shown to ask his mom to move into a deluxe apartment. The movie ends with Darryl entering the Smythe-Bates building on his first day, with a familiar-looking doorman (

Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...

Cast

as Darryl Witherspoon *

as Scott Thorpe *

as Tim LaFlour *

as Dr. Thomas Wheedon *

Tamara Taylor Tamara Taylor (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama ''Bones''. She also appeared in season seven of '' Marvel's Agents of S.H ...

as Janice Tyson *

as Randall Tyson *

Esther Scott Esther Scott (April 13, 1953 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress. Early years Scott was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, on April 13, 1953. When she was a child the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. She developed an interest i ...

as Denise Witherspoon *

Richard McGonagle Richard Francis McGonagle (born October 22, 1946) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his voice work in various video games, movies and television shows. He is also known for his work by voicing Colonel Taggart in ''Prototype'', O ...

as Robert Bellwether *

Kenya Moore Kenya Summer Moore (born January 24, 1971) is an American actress, model, producer, author, television personality, and entrepreneur. She is best known for winning the Miss USA pageant in 1993 and being a main cast member on Bravo's reality seri ...

as Lorraine * Vicellous Shannon as Carter *

Ernie Lively Ernie Lively (born Ernest Wilson Brown Jr.; January 29, 1947 – June 3, 2021) was an American actor and acting coach, and the father of actors Lori Lively, Jason Lively, Robyn Lively, Eric Lively, and Blake Lively. Life and career Lively was b ...

as Coach Brandau *

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...

as Himself *

Greg Grunberg Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Eric Weiss in the ABC series ''Alias'', Matt Parkman in the NBC series ''Heroes'', Temmin "Snap" Wexley in '' Star Wars: The Forc ...

as Steve the commentator *

Debra Jo Rupp Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951) is an American actress best known for her roles as Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' and its sequel series ''That '90s Show'', and Alice Knight-Buffay on the third through fifth seasons o ...

as Fertility clinic attendant * Mark Christopher Lawrence as Wig shop owner *

as Smythe-Bates Doorman

Production

''Senseless'' was financed by

Dimension Films Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

, and was the second movie idea

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

comedy writers

and Greg Erb had successfully pitched, with their first being the 1997

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

comedy ''

RocketMan ''RocketMan'' (also written as ''Rocket Man'') is a 1997 American comic science fiction film directed by Stuart Gillard and starring Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn. A partial remake of the 1967 film, '' The ...

''. Filming began during June 1997 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Reception

Box office

''Senseless'' opened on February 20, 1998 and, in its opening weekend, made $5,337,651 at #5 behind ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

''s tenth weekend, ''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...

''s second, ''

Sphere A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

''s second, and ''

Good Will Hunting ''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver. The film received positive r ...

''s twelfth.

Critical response

The film received negative reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film an approval rating of 6% based on reviews from 17 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the film has a score of 36% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 2.5 out of 4.

Soundtrack

The ''Senseless'' soundtrack was released February 10, 1998 by

Gee Street Records Gee Street Records was a British hip hop record label started by Jon Baker in 1985. The label's name came from its original location, a converted warehouse on Gee Street (off Old Street) in London, EC1. Between 1980 and 1984, label head Ba ...

. # "

Busy Child "Busy Child" is a breakbeat single by The Crystal Method from the album '' Vegas''. It is one of the group's most recognizable works, reaching #17 on Hot Dance Club Play charts, and remaining on even ten years later. Music videos At least two musi ...

" -

The Crystal Method The Crystal Method is an American electronic music act formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. They were pioneers of the big beat genre and their music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video gam ...

# "Song for Lindy" -

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

# "Absurd" -

Fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

# "Together" -

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

# "Do You Want to Freak?" - The Freak Brothers # "The Unexplained" - Gravediggaz # "Graciosa" - Moby # "Reeferendrum" - Fluke # "Set Back" - Fluke # "Jungle Brother (True Blue)" -

Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall ( Afrika Baby Bam), and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Known as the pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hi ...

# "Spacefunk" - Headrillaz # "Perfect for You" -

P.M. Dawn P.M. Dawn was an American hip hop and R&B act that formed in 1988 by the brothers Attrell Cordes (known by his stage name Prince Be, sometimes credited as Prince Be the Nocturnal) and Jarrett Cordes (known as DJ Minutemix) in Jersey City, New J ...

# "

Atom Bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

" - Fluke # "Look Around My Window" -

Ambersunshower Ambersunshower (born Ambersunshower Nadine Miligros Villenuevo Smith)) is an American R&B singer and former member of the hip hop duo, Groove Garden. Career Ambersunshower has been writing poetry since the age of ten. She was one half of h ...

# "Mucho Dinero" - Yankee B. # "Smash the State" -

Naked Aggression ''The Decline of Western Civilization III'' is a 1998 documentary film, directed by Penelope Spheeris, that chronicles the gutter punk lifestyle of homeless teenagers. It is the third film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at ...

# "Gotta Be...Movin' on Up" - Prince Be of P.M. Dawn featuring Ky-Mani and

John Forté John Forté (born January 30, 1975) is an American recording artist and producer. He is primarily known for being a member of the musical duo Refugee Camp All-Stars, and his production work on the Fugees album '' The Score''. He has released f ...

References

External links

* * {{Craig Mazin 1998 films 1990s buddy comedy films 1998 romantic comedy films African-American comedy films American buddy comedy films American independent films American romantic comedy films Dimension Films films Films directed by Penelope Spheeris Films produced by Don Carmody Films set in universities and colleges Mandeville Films films Films produced by David Hoberman 1990s English-language films 1990s American films