Re-watching Doctor Detroit, which I discovered last night. It's very close to Night Shift, a movie my dad and I both dug ages ago. The premise is pretty simple, Howard Hesseman plays this pimp named Smooth Walker who's been embezzling from a mob boss, so he skips town leaving the unwitting, timid teacher played by Dan Aykroyd as his "partner." And not only does Aykroyd do it, he invents this strange "mwraw" persona that becomes a big sensation in town and he has to balance that newfound fame and insanity with his responsibilities to his college, which is of course on the line.
I actually enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would (and it has what would be a great cameo reveal if it hadn't been spoiled in the opening credits) but I have issues with it, the plot if very straight lined and you can see where everything is headed, and this is a big issue for me, the female characters are all flat. They get to do one or two fun things but they're plot devices, they're not fully fleshed out which I have a problem with as a writer, a viewer and a person.
I think this is actually ripe for a remake, though. I kept thinking of Donald Glover every time the driver popped up, and I was trying to think of who could be the next Doctor, and I think Bill Hader could be brilliant, not just making his own Doctor persona but making up tons of other associates and doing crazier voices. There was one Fletch-like moment in a courtroom and just wanted more. The movie as it stands is a great idea that should be fleshed out and explored and played with to an insane extreme. And of course, the girls should ALL be scene-stealers and fully fleshed out next time.