Film

Strangers with Candy: Amy Sedaris' riotous performance as Jerri Blank, who comes out of a decades-long jail stint to find her father in a coma and decides to go back to high school ("exactly where I left off") in an attempt to bring him out of it, is the kind of thing that can save a pity party like Sundance. From the first shot of Sedaris -- one eye just off-centre, top teeth sticking out, terrible make-up, ass padding -- on a prison bus, you know you're in for something hilarious. The ridiculous plotline isn't really the point -- the spot-on mockery of teen films, endless non-sequitors and physical comedy are all top drawer, even when the movie is cheerfully spouting stereotypes: "You're like family to me," Jerri says to her team of science fair nerds. "Well, the white ones are. You darker ones are more like valued family servants." Sharp cameos byAllison Janney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker increase the joy. By Tara Thorne (Tara's Sundance Trip)