Film / Going Berserk

Going Berserk is a 1983 comedy film starring John Candy, Joe Flaherty, and Eugene Levy, with Pat Hingle and Ernie Hudson in minor roles.

John Candy plays John Bourgignon, a drummer and limo driver who is set to marry the daughter of a wealthy congressman. Said congressman is currently attempting to deal with a pesky cult that operates out of an excercise gym, who brainwash John into a Manchurian Agent with the goal that he will kill the Congressman whenever he sees a certain playing card.

Notable as John Candy's first leading role, the film can best be described as a surreal comedy with SCTV sketches sprinkled in.

Going Berserk contains examples of the following tropes

• Animated Credits Opening: Kind of; the opening credits contains numerous pictograms of the films characters that are animated by them appearing on one part of the scene and the pictograms move across the screen while being still images.
• Back-Alley Doctor: While having his own practice and office, the doctor John goes to after his Manchurian Agent-induced blackout at the wedding rehersal tells John to tell them of a recurring dream he's having. No only is the doctor laughing hysterically along with Chick when John finishes, the way he decides to treat him is by dropping him out a window so he'll land on his head.
• Berserk Button: Once Salvatore di Pasquale has told you not to interrupt him during a meeting, you'd better damn well listen for the sake of your hearing. Don't even think of saying his name incorrectly either.
• Big Damn Heroes: John, under the cult's influence, points a gun at Ed Reese during the wedding, only to snap out of it and fire the gun into the ceiling before pointing it at the cult leader and his assistant, holding them at gunpoint while he explains their entire plot.
• Blackmail: How Sal gets the job to film to film John and Nancy's wedding; after blasting Sal's lifestyle and personality after a viewing of Kung Fu U, Ed Reese is shown a film reel with his name on it by Sal, who says it was found in a "certain motel downtown", indicating an affair or another less-than-lawful deed Ed comitted was caught on tape.
• Caught with Your Pants Down: John states that during a recurring dream which heavily resembles The Blue Lagoon (1980), a woman wants to bang him in the worse way but he simply cannot get to her so he heads behind some rocks to, um... take care of business... and ends up having an entire cruise ship of people catch him in the act.
• Catchphrase: Once John has been become a Manchurian Agent, he becomes a loudmouth obnoxious schmuck upon seeing the five of spades instead of the cold killer the cult wanted. These naturally happen in front of Ed Reese, who says "I'm gonna kill him!", though he never actually attempts it.
• Church of Happyology: The aerobics cult that turns John into a Manchurian Agent serves as this.
• Covers Always Lie: The film's theatrical poster◊ is a complete lie; at no point are any of our leads ever naked, let alone nude in a cage full of monkeys being loaded onto a cruise ship. Eugene Levy's prominence on the poster would lead you to believe he's a main character or possibly the film's antagonist who bosses them around since he's bopping John Candy and Joe Flaherty on the head when in fact he's a secondary character and he never physically strikes anyone, though he does give them an offer they can't refuse when he offers to pay off the rest of the money they owe on the limo in exchange for a favor. The film's actual antagonist, Reverend Sun-Yi Day, is nowhere to be seem. Aside from the actors depicted being in the film itself, the only way the poster is accurate in the slightest is a cruise ship does appear in the film proper, but only in a dream scene.
• The Ditz: Sal's secretary forgets his name and interrupts him during a meeting to let him know he has a phone call after being told repeatedly not to interrupt him. This has happened so often that during the meeting at the start, she interrupts it and mispronounces his name, leading to Sal to holler "MORON!!!" at her until she goes away.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Sal declares the name of John and Nancy's wedding video on-camera to be "John and Nancy: The Wedding".
• Groin Attack: While fending off an excited crowd of woman who are literally clawing at the male strippers on stage, John literally throws the women off the stage. One of them kicks him directly in the balls, leading to John spinning her around on his shoulders before slamming her into the crowd.
• Manchurian Agent: A local cult is under pressure due to Ed Reese wanting to prosecute their leader. Fearing he has a good case against them, they hypnotise John to become a murderer who's sole target is Ed Reese whenever he sees a five of spades. Instead, he just becomes an obnoxious schmuck.
• Murder in the Family: Muhammed Jerome Willy, played by Ernie Hudson, is one of the men John finds himself awaiting sentencing with. When asked why he was arrested, Jerome coldly replies that he set fire to his family. Wether it was his parents and siblings or wife and children is never made clear.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take much to set Sal off as he flies off the handle in every scene he appears in. When Sal suggests to John that he speak to Ed Reese about getting him to film the wedding only for John to say he doesn't think it's a good idea, Sal accuses John of not thinking he's good enough.

  Sal di Pasquale: [calmy at first, though his volume steadily increases] Maybe you didn't see a little film I like to call Kung Fu U. Maybe you don't remember that little Salvatore di Pasquale production which just happened to gross $410'000 across this entire country! I guess you don't rememner that, EH?!?!"

• No Indoor Voice: Once Sal's Berserk Button is pressed, he'll shout loud enough to be heard in China, regardless of his current location. Once the camera has been set up to record John and Nancy's wedding, his secretery steps right in front of the camera to compliment his speech, only for him to holler "GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!" right in her face... while inside a church!
• No-Sell: While fending off rabid women who are clawing at the male dancers onstage, one of them kicks John right square in the balls. Aside from a groan of pain, this does not faze him at all and he picks the girl up onto his shoulders and spins around before literally throwing her off of the stage.
• Of Corpse He's Alive!: After Jerome dies while having sex with his girlfriend, John now finds himself handcuffed to a dead man. After calling Chick for help, he and the late Jerome make their way to a restaurant, Jerome now donning shades and John explaining away his stillness as him meditating. A friend of Jerome's shows up and is too much of a chatterbox to notice Jerome is deceased.
• Out with a Bang: After making up with his girlfriend, Jerome and her proceed to have very loud and rough sex up against the door leading out of her apartment while John is slammed against the other side of the door and dragged up and down. Muhammed dies off-screen during the deed.
• Punny Name: Reverend Sun-Yi Day's day is just "sunny day" with extra emphasis on the Y.
• Put on a Prison Bus: Downplayed; while the character doesn't exit the film, John is arrested after brawling with numerous women who were getting too physical with the male dancers and, given how rough he was being the women, ie picking them up and literally throwing them off the stage. The charges against him are never stated, but assault is most likely, even if he was doing it to defend other people.
• Random Events Plot: Substantial portions of the film exist to show John and Chick in bizarre situations such as John getting busted after roughhousing with a crowd of rowdy women and the man he ends up handcuffed to helping him escape before dying after reconciling with his girlfriend and the cult making him watch a recreation of Leave It to Beaver starring himself and Chick where Wally and Beaver are murdered by their father.
• Show Within a Show: Kung Fu U, a martial arts film made by Salvator di Pasquale that John and Chick starred in. According to Sal, it grossed $410'000!! We get to see a small portion of it when Sal auditions to film Congressman Ed Reese's daughter's wedding.
• Sinister Minister: Reverend Sun-Yi Day. His Church of Happyology is under pressure due to an investigation being lead by Congressman Ed Reese. Rev. Day's solution is to brinwash said congressman's daughter's fiancee to kill him when he sees a five of spades.
• Stupid Crooks: The plot to assinate Ed Reese mentioned above is completely ignoring the fact that had the attempt been sucessful, Day's presence at the wedding, him having booked John at his aerobics studio and John entering several times for lengthy periods, plus the fact that, um, he was under invstigation by the same man who now has a bullet in his head would have had every Fed in the country beating down his front door.
• Stylistic Suck: Sal's film, Kung Fu U. Not only was it clearly filmed inside an Oriental-themed restaurant during opening hours, but the Hong Kong Dub is atrocious, fight scenes use incredibly obvious dummies and Chick Leff is wearing an obviously-fake Fu Manchu moustache. Ed Reese is treated to a portion of the film and is not amused in the slightest.
• They Call Him Barkeep: John's sidekick is named Chick. Whether this is just a nickname or the character's actual name is never made clear.
• Verbal Backspace: At the start of John and Nancy's wedding, the priest begins with the usual "dearly beloved" spiel, but Sal shouts "ACTION" so loud that it visibly startles the priest and he has to start over.