Get a Life: Chris' Brain (1992)

Chris (Chris Elliott) and Gus (Brian Doyle-Murray) ignore warnings about toxic waste in their neighborhood and develop super powers. The two notice a few minor physical deformities (losing teeth, oversized pinky finger) before a government official (Mitch Pileggi, who would later play FBI deputy director Skinner on The X-Files) comes over to warn them that the neighborhood has become "a death zone" and is being evacuated. "I can't die yet!" Chris frets, "My only goal in life is to be buried in a piano crate...but I foolishly put off getting really fat thinking I would live forever." Gus tells him they're not leaving, reassuring Chris that, "the theory that toxic waste can hurt you is a lotta bunk." As the two hole up in Gus' living room with an arsenal of weapons, they begin to notice a few changes. Gus gets webbed fingers, and Chris grows a second mouth on the side of his body. Thinking they're dying, the two eventually collapse into toxic comas. Miraculously, they wake up, and Chris and Gus quickly notice that Chris has gained the ability to speak coherently, and he can actually follow a conversation. "The trick is not to hum cartoon theme songs in your head while other people are talking," he reasons. Not only that, Chris suddenly knows how to spell, even the word that previously gave him the most trouble -- "pants." "Everything seems so clear to me now," Chris enthuses, "There's no silent 'K'." Meanwhile, Gus finds himself adept at the Japanese paper-folding art of origami. They decide to put Chris' newfound powers to use by winning every spelling bee on the planet. They're unstoppable, but Chris grows weary of life on the road and decides to retire. Gus convinces him to enter one more contest -- the prestigious World Spelling Bee. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi