Good Burger (1997)

31% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
59% of users liked it
(52,073 ratings)

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the popular Nickelodeon series All That, confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger… More Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the popular Nickelodeon series All That, confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger stand, while his buddy Dexter (Thompson) also works there, but lack Ed's single-minded devotion to his job -- he's there because he accidentally destroyed the car of his teacher Mr. Wheat (Sinbad) and has to raise money to pay the damages. When Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-foot chain, opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is history, until Ed formulates a secret sauce that brings hundreds of new customers to their door. However, the monomaniacal manager of Mondo Burger, Kurt (Jan Schweiterman), is determined to get his hands on the sauce and put Good Burger out of business. Meanwhile, Ed and Dexter must rescue Otis (Abe Vigoda), the world's oldest fast food employee, from the Demented Hills Asylum, and Ed might just find love with Monique (Shar Jackson) if he could take his mind off the burgers long enough to pay attention to her. Good Burger also features basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as himself and George Clinton as one of the Demented Hills inmates. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Brian Robbins
Written By: Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow, Heath Seifert
Genres: Comedy, Kids & Family

In Theaters: Jul 25, 1997 Wide
On DVD: May 27, 2003
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Critic Reviews

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
A laboriously slow suburban adventure...
Leonard Klady, Variety
The meat of the piece is definitely FDA cinematically approved, and perfect if you like this brand of entertainment with the works.
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
Anyone who doesn't smile is probably either too adult to count or too dead to care.
Anita Gates, New York Times
It's hysterically funny.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Take any two young people off the street and throw them into a movie, and they'd be no worse. No one could be worse.
Andy Seiler, USA Today
Good Burger is not very well done. But it does have energy.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A fresh, funny, super-sized kid's comedy that may even have a few grown-ups cracking smiles.
Derek Adams, Time Out
Few people can be so big-hearted as to tolerate Ed's agonizing brand of pedantic humour.
Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer
Any energetic junior high class could have written a smarter script than the one Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert provide.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
"plenty of ham and no shortage of cheese"
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Succeeds at what it tries to do, and it manages to be entertaining for adults, too.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
This is just one of those movies that really shouldn't have been made.
Oz, eFilmCritic.com
Avoid this study of stupidity like the plague.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
The little ones may well tune in to its wavelength, but woe betide the adult who accompanies them.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Matt G

Ed: Welcome to Good Burger! Home of the Good Burger! Can I take your order? There are films that are good; films that are bad; and films that are so bad that they're good. Good Burger falls into the third category. I'm closing into my seventeenth year, and I saw Good Burger… More
Ed: Welcome to Good Burger! Home of the Good Burger! Can I take your order? There are films that are good; films that are bad; and films that are so bad that they're good. Good Burger falls into the third category. I'm closing into my seventeenth year, and I saw Good Burger for the first time a few weeks back. After some thought, I hated it, but after a repeated viewing, I really found the funny side in this; the bad moments. Ed: Look I'm grape nose boy. Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, popular stars of the old Nickelodeon series All That team up in Good Burger to bring down Mondo Burger, a rival burger joint across the street. The plot's pretty self-explanatory. Customer: Excuse me? Look, I ordered one Good Burger with nothing on it. Ed: That's what I gave you. Customer: No! You gave me a bun. Just a bun! Look! There's no meat in here. Ed: But you said you wanted nothing on it. Customer: Yes, but I expected a meat patty! Ed: Dude, a meat patty is something. You said "nothing". These guys are incredibly funny when together. Kel Mitchell is the dumbfounded worker (hence the quote above), and Kenan is the kid who wants to enjoy summer (hence his fatness). Put these two together in a partnership, and the results are side-splitting. Stupid humor works well for me, and it's definitely worth multiple viewings. Ed: I'm a dude. He's a dude. She's a dude. 'Cause we're all dudes.
Jeff "

As far as family films are concerned, Good Burger is a terrible example of such a film. This one poorly made film that should never have been made in the first place. I hated this film, and thought it was a waste of time. The script was terrible, poorly executed and the acting was… More
As far as family films are concerned, Good Burger is a terrible example of such a film. This one poorly made film that should never have been made in the first place. I hated this film, and thought it was a waste of time. The script was terrible, poorly executed and the acting was awful. The cast right from the start was mediocre, and I can't understand why this film got made. Seems that they'll make anything to market it to a brain-dead audience. The film is poor, with nothing funny going on, and Sinbad makes this trash even worse. The guy is not funny whatsoever, and this film yet again proves it. This film could have been a good, memorable family film. This film is mediocre in every way, the film is boring with a poorly written script, and the film is simply put a poorly made comedy film that doesn't satisfy. The problem with Good Burger is that gags are poorly conceived, and aren't funny. I saw this when it was first released, and I was pretty young. Back then, I didn't find anything to like about the film, I though that the films humor was pretty stupid and lacked originality. As a family film, Good Burger is a film to avoid, and is not a memorable film by any means. This is a poorly made film with awful acting, awful jokes and an awful cast. Sinbad is terrible, and is actually perfect for this film because this film is about as funny as his so called career. A boring film with little effective comedic substance.
Alexander D

What the heck!?
Lucas M

Good Burguer is a fun movie. The worst thing is the silly gags on the Dan Schneider's screenplay.
Bently L

"Good Burger" is dadgum hilarious! Maybe critics hated because of its used and cliched pllot. Yes, the plot is used, been-there-done-that, and cliched but the acting and humor is sure to please anyone. Kel Mitchell's performance as Ed is comic genius. Okay, I'm… More
"Good Burger" is dadgum hilarious! Maybe critics hated because of its used and cliched pllot. Yes, the plot is used, been-there-done-that, and cliched but the acting and humor is sure to please anyone. Kel Mitchell's performance as Ed is comic genius. Okay, I'm overreacting. Kenan Thompson was also good too. Every dialogue scene between Kenan and Kel is hilarious! It is impossible to not have fun with this movie. "I don't remember what my dad looks like either, but at least I get to see him everyday."
Jason O

When I saw the previews of "Good Burger," I just about knew that I wouldn't like the movie. However, my mom said that it was funny, so I watched it one day. It's about two unlikely teenagers who get a job at a local restaurant called Good Burger. They become… More
When I saw the previews of "Good Burger," I just about knew that I wouldn't like the movie. However, my mom said that it was funny, so I watched it one day. It's about two unlikely teenagers who get a job at a local restaurant called Good Burger. They become friends and they have to team up to have a chance to compete with a brand new restaurant called Mondo Burger that is expected to put Good Burger out of business. With Ed's new secret sauce and all the Good Burger employees teaming up, they might have a chance. I thought at first that "Good Burger" would be aimed mainly at young kids who watch Nickelodeon and that it wouldn't be that funny, but it turned out I was wrong. It has a lot of funny parts and it kept me entertained enough so that I actually wanted to see what was going to happen. I recommend anybody to watch this movie. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. Surprisingly decent movie.
Nani V

OMG! This movie wants me to eat from the restaurant! I'm hungry right now... But seriously, I enjoyed this movie back in the day...as a child.
Justin Y

Just by looking at the cover/poster you will come to the conclusion that this film is pretty darn stupid. Which it is. Yet, it isn't entirely a time waster. Why? Because of a show titled All That. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger! Can… More
Just by looking at the cover/poster you will come to the conclusion that this film is pretty darn stupid. Which it is. Yet, it isn't entirely a time waster. Why? Because of a show titled All That. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger! Can I take your order?"This movie is no surprise for fans of the show. More specifically, the early years of the show back in the early-mid nineties. The plot is nothing spectacular and when it all comes down to it, it is just Good Burger vs. Mondo Burger. The savior of the film is the character of Ed whom you come to love because of his stupidity. His dialogue is somewhat predictable, but it is still funny as it is delivered. "Uh ... no." The only thing is that 90 minutes is just a bit much to handle. In small moderate doses, Ed is hilarious, but in a movie it becomes a little tiresome by the end, although not entirely. Just watch out for the burger mobile.The acting is nothing special, although I give props to Kel for actually pulling off the Ed character for 90 minutes. A good thing about this film is that there are many recognizable faces. Sinbad, Carmen Electra, and Linda Cardellini provide small parts, while Shaquille O'Neill and George Clinton show up for cameos. Also, be on the lookout for fellow All That cast members Josh Server, who has a pretty funny character, and Lori Beth Denberg as All That character Connie Muldoon.In the end this is a decent watch for fans of the early years of All That and/or the "Good Burger" segments. "I'm a dude. He's a dude. She's a dude. 'Cause we're all dudes."
Lenny M

Loved the show Kenan and Kel and All That but when this movie came out, both shows were going downhill.
danny d

i love the good burger
Candy R

Great movie if you love Kenan and Kel. Very funny teen movie.
Lafe F

A classic junk-food of a movie! About warring burger restaurants. Kel and Kenan are the party-est boys in their burger-zone, who invent a special sauce. Kids should love it. Plenty of fun. Release the Criterion Edition DVD of this immediately!
Michael G

A work of sheer genius that can only be appreciated in the company of an empty case of beer. Or paint thinner.
Sarah G

Think I watched this when I was young. Was really funny at the time
Bradley W

Fun when I was a kid, stupid now.
Juan C

it's hillarious and fun with kenan and kel reacting their skits from all that! A
Donna D

Silly movie, but it was fun watching it. Got me laughing at most parts of the movie, especially when they went into disguise at the competitor's restaurant dressed as old women...so hilarious! A fun movie.
Leo L

Hilarious!