Starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell Directed by Brian Robbins Rated PG, with mild profanity and sexual suggestions Running time 90 minutes We give this film a rating of 5 out of 10

(July 25, 1997) -- If you don't know who Kenan and Kel are, you're obviously over the age of 12 and don't have kids of your own. So you should probably skip Good Burger, a high-spirited if highly inconsistent comedy based on a recurring sketch from the Nickelodeon TV show All That and aimed directly at the pre-10 demographic.

If you're a parent who is all too familiar with Nickelodeon, you already know to avoid this film. Send the kids without guilt or fear of inappropriate material. Younger viewers are the ideal audience for this chipper, silly endeavor. They'll enjoy the goofy antics of rising young stars Kenan Thompson (he's the chubby one) and Kel Mitchell (the one with the braids and the fast-food worker's hat permanently attached to his head).

Mitchell plays Ed, an apparently permanent fixture at lowly Good Burger. Ed's as spacey as they come, the kind of guy who takes everything literally. When someone tries to break bad news to him by telling him, "I don't know how to say this," he inevitably interrupts, "That's easy, dude -- thhhh-iii-sss."

Thompson is Dexter, whose school year ends on a sour note: He crashes his car into a vehicle belonging to one of his teachers, Mr. Wheat (Sinbad). Because Dexter was driving without a license or insurance, he must pay the damages himself and is forced to take a summer job.

He washes out of the training program at the fascistic Mondo Burger. So he winds up taking a job at Good Burger, where he becomes friends with Ed. The plot in this script by Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert is simple: Mondo Burger, led by the jackbooted dictator Kurt (Jan Schwieterman), wants to put Good Burger out of business and is willing to go to any lengths to do it.

Good Burger comes back, thanks to a secret sauce that Ed whips up at home to put on his own lunch. Suddenly Good Burger's business is thriving -- which leads Kurt to plot to steal the sauce recipe.

The film features cameo appearances by, among others, Carmen Electra, Shaquille O'Neal and George Clinton. Its sketchy story bounces all over the place comedically, from a dance number in a mental hospital to a scene in which Dexter and Ed dress up as women to infiltrate Mondo Burger.

Directed by Brian Robbins, Good Burger was made cheaply in seven weeks and shows it. The physical humor is broad and sloppy; in a film with more on the ball, the producers would have hired Dana Carvey to play the nefarious Kurt instead of hiring a Dana Carvey look-alike.

The script has the kind of silly lowbrow wit that regularly infects both All That and Kenan & Kel on Nickelodeon. While many of the jokes won't even register on adult humor meters, they'll score direct hits with the pre-teen crowd.

Mitchell has a certain woozy charm as Ed, as well as a wiry physicality that can be very funny. Thompson is the trickster of the pair, a young comic actor with dancing eyes and a rubber face.

These two have a future as a comedy team that will appeal to a wider audience, if they can get better material. Meanwhile, "Good Burger" will more than satisfy this duo's growing legion of young fans.