YMMV / Good Burger

• Accidental Innuendo: This line from Kurt:
  Kurt: If anyone can get the sauce out of Ed...she (Roxanne) can.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Siskel & Ebert argued on whether Ed was truly stupid (what Siskel believed) or faking it to be ironic (what Ebert believed). Given he talks about wanting to circumvent legal procedures that Kurt could've loopholed by sabotaging Mondo Burger with the chemicals so they'd be caught in the act, Ed at least is knowledgable about things people wouldn't expect him to be.
  • Did Mr. Wheat intend to extort Dexter into paying for add-ons to his car too as opposed to just the damages caused in the wreck?
  • In the sequel, was the security guard at Mega-Corp stupid enough to let Ed and Dexter into Katt's office easily, or did Katt tell him that she wanted to see them and he didn't directly mention it to Ed and Dex?
• Awesome Music:
  • Parliament-Funkadelic's "(Not Just) Knee Deep"
  • Less Than Jake's "We're All Dudes" with Kel Mitchell providing vocals. They had never played the song in concert, except for a show in Chicago in 2008. And who should join them on stage, but Herbert J. Budworth dressed as Ed!!
  • Yung Gravy's "Gravy's Delight" in the sequel.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Ed's dream in the beginning, which features talking hamburgers and him flying around with them before getting dropped into a pit.
  • Ed getting all of the patients in a mental hospital to do a Michael Jackson style dance number to a George Clinton song.
• Broken Base: There is very little grey area in this movie's appeal. It's either a harmless light teen comedy with some appealing 90s nostalgia or a horribly dated attempt to turn a Catchphrase into a feature film. The one thing most viewers agree on, however, is that your opinion on it depends heavily on whether or not you were a fan of the two Nickelodeon shows it's based on, All That and Kenan & Kel, beforehand.
• Critical Dissonance: Compare the negative reaction from critics, and how fondly it's remembered now, with modern reactions to the movie tending to place it in So Bad, It's Good territory. Even at the time of its release, it still fit, managing to make a small profit for Nickelodeon despite being bashed by critics.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Ed asking Dexter (who, like Ed, is Black), with his usual utmost sincerity, if the reason he doesn't want to be partners any more is because Ed is black. It's too stupid to even consider being offensive.
• Cult Classic: The film remains popular among 90's kids that grew up with All That and Kenan & Kel.
• Designated Monkey: Mr. Wheat had every right to be furious with Dexter for wrecking his car, especially since Dexter admitted to driving without a license. So a lot of the mishaps he endures tends to come off as Disproportionate Retribution as he's simply trying to get along with his day. One could argue that him possibly making Dexter pay for some additional work he might've had on his car too would take him out of this, but it's left to audience interpretation though. At least he'll be legally allowed to sue Mondo Burger for a new car given their illegal additives are responsible for ruining his car.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Heather claims to be a psychopath but displays symptoms of schizophrenia.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Pretty much any scene with Dan Schneider who plays Good Burger manager Mr. Bailey given the revelations of how much of a bastard he was behind the scenes at Nickelodeon as shown in Quiet on Set.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: There are numerous jokes about how old Otis (Abe Vigoda) is, from him working with an oxygen mask to Ed sincerely asking how much longer Otis could possibly live. Vigoda would end up living almost twenty years after the film's release, dying at the ripe old age of 94.
• Heartwarming Moments: Dexter calling Ed "buddy" and Ed taking it to heart, and Ed buying Dexter a light-up yo-yo with his wages (that are severely depleted because Dexter is scamming him) after he hears Dexter's Disappeared Dad story come to mind.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Two rival restaurants located on opposite ends of the street with one constantly trying to take advantage of the other's secret recipe? With the latter owing much of its success to a lovable moron? In a Nickelodeon production? Sounds familiar...
  • This line from Dexter when asked if he can handle the Burgermobile: "I don't know. I've never driven a sandwich before!" Seven years later, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, SpongeBob takes the wheel of the Patty Wagon (without a license) and declares "You don't need a license to drive a sandwich!"
• Ho Yay:
  • There's more than quite a bit between Ed and Dexter.
  • And between Ed and Kurt. There's the whole "He's just trying to use you!" / "Well, that's not 'natural'" exchange after Kurt tries to get Ed to work for him. And then there's the scene where Kurt tries to intimidate Ed into revealing his sauce recipe, and their faces are close enough to kiss. It doesn't help that Ed is wearing women's underwear at the time.
• Love to Hate: Kurt Bozwell is a Corrupt Corporate Executive with absolutely no qualms about poisoning his own customers, but his Large Ham performance makes very hilarious and entertaining to watch.
• Memetic Mutation: "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, may I take your order?"
  • Also, see Hilarious in Hindsight.
  • Dexter's face◊ as he runs up to meet Shaquille O'Neal, which has seen use as a reaction image. Most frequently it's used when describing immense pleasure or a "sick burn."
  • The aforementioned lyrics to Ed's "We're All Dudes" song: "I'm a dude! He's a dude! She's a dude! We're all dudes, hey!"
  • "You don't wanna be partners? Is it because I'm black?"
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Kurt crosses this when he breaks into Good Burger and puts shark poison in Ed's sauce. Though he already toe'd the line with his indifference to the potential side effects of the chemicals he used for his burgers.
  • In the sequel, if Katt blowing up Ed and Dex’s Burgermobile didn’t send her across the edge, then trapping Ed and Dex in an automated BMW and trying to crash them in it was definitely crossing the line.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The burgers with eyes.
  • Kurt's plot to feed people shark poison.
  • The possible side effects of consuming a chemically enlarged Mondo Burger, which Kurt doesn't care about.
  • The panicked customers fleeing the Mondo Burger as the giant burger explosions cause everything to go haywire. The giant wall decorations nearly crush people. and the Mondo Burger neon sign comes down in a flurry of sparks and broken wire.
  • In the sequel where the Good Burger mobile gets destroyed and then Ed and Dex are sent home in a self-driving car that seemingly tries to kill them. Because it is trying to do just that with Meg Corp's corrupt CEO remotely at the helm.
• Questionable Casting: Abe Vigoda in a kids' movie would be one of the last things anyone would have thought of.
  Doug Walker: You were in Godfather, man! Show some dignity!
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Linda Cardellini as Heather.
  • J. August Richards as Griffin.
• Special Effect Failure: When Ed blindly runs into the basketball court with a baby accidentally in tow, the kid is clearly just a doll in most of the shots.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: From a critical standpoint, Good Burger 2 ended up reviewing considerably better than the original movie, with a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the first movie's 33%, while fans of the original movie deemed it a worthy follow-up that succeeded fairly well in re-capturing the zaniness and lunacy of the first movie.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The roof scene, where we learn that Dexter's father gave him a yo-yo before leaving (though it's unclear if his parents divorced or if he abandoned them).
  • The jokes about Otis' age become this now that Abe Vigoda has passed away, albeit at the age of 94 nearly twenty years after the fact. Also sobering is the death of Ron Lester, who played Spatch, whose morbid obesity in his youth caused him considerable health problems long after he'd lost the weight.
• Values Dissonance: This film's depiction of the mentally ill is more than a little tasteless. True, it's all Played for Laughs, but that doesn't make it less uncomfortable.
• The Woobie: Roxanne's injuries at the hands of Ed (granted, unintentionally) might make some feel sorry for her. Luckily, the sequel shows that she recovered from her injuries and is now on friendly terms with Ed.

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