Beerfest
Review by Fritz Esker
One question I've gotten a lot lately is "Are you going to review that Spike Lee movie?" For now, the answer is no. I just don't think I can watch it yet. I saw the preview on HBO and while it looked fantastic, it nearly had me in tears. I think it's wonderful that Spike Lee is trying to raise awareness about the continued plight of New Orleanians a year after Katrina. I think it's great that he's trying to explode the myth that it was somehow our fault. I'm really grateful that he's doing all this and, from what I've heard, he did an outstanding job with the film. I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I just don't think I'm ready to watch it now.
Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe that made the box office flops Super Troopers and Club Dread, are back with Beerfest, another film I fear is destined for box office failure. Part of the problem is the marketing campaign. The commercials and previews for Beerfest make it look positively awful, like any other cheesy, hastily assembled pastiche of awkward slapstick and painfully forced dirty jokes. The thing is, Broken Lizard's movies really are better than this (in particular, I thought Club Dread was a pretty effective send-up of horror movies). With Beerfest, Broken Lizard has once again made a reasonably clever, reasonably enjoyable film that will probably be ignored because its marketing campaign makes it seem like the film is far dumber than it really is.
Beerfest is the second movie this month (after Talladega Nights) that parodies the conventional sports movie genre. Just as Club Dread parodied horror movies, Beerfest readily and often wittily pokes fun at sports movie conventions (strained romantic relationships, training montages, the unexpected tragedy that the team must bounce back from, etc.) While not as good as Talladega Nights, Beerfest still does a pretty good job of satirizing sports flicks.
The film opens with the Wolfhouse brothers (Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske) bringing their German grandfather's (Donald Sutherland) ashes back to the old country. When they arrive there for Octoberfest, they discover an underground olympics consisting solely of drinking games. After being humiliated by the German hosts (led by the typically sinister Jurgen Prochnow), who bear a grudge against the brothers' grandfather, they return to America, determined to come back to Beerfest the following year and defend the family honor. To do so, they recruit three other team members: a Jewish scientist (Steve Lemme), a former classmate who has hit hard times and become a male prostitute (director Jay Chandrasekhar), and a disgruntled former brewery employee (Kevin Heffernan).
Like the previous Broken Lizard movies, Beerfest is very hit-and-miss. For example, after the movie's terrific opening scene, the film stumbles along for a while as the brothers make their first visit to Germany (featuring some embarrassingly bad slapstick and gratuitous nudity). But, the film then quickly recovers with some hilarious introductions to the new team members. So the film goes for most of its running time, alternating bits that sometimes made me laugh out loud (which I don't often do) with bits that completely miss the mark.
As usual, the Broken Lizard performers throw themselves into their roles with a ton of energy. The standouts here are Chandrasekhar and Lemme. Lemme, in particular, is noteworthy for his chameleon-like ability to disappear into character (he played the flamboyant Spanish diving instructor in Club Dread). In fact, he so convincingly disappears into the role of the nerdy Jewish scientist that when I first saw previews for Beerfest, I thought Lemme wasn't in the film for some reason. In fact, he just did such a convincing job of disappearing into character that I didn't recognize him in the previews.
Again, I have to harp on the film's marketing campaign, which makes it look a lot dumber than it is. A prime example is the commercials and the preview, both of which feature a shot of the team peeing against a wall. In the commercials/preview, the shot is totally taken out of context and makes it look like the filmmakers are saying "Ha, ha, guys peeing on a wall is funny," and making the film look really amateurish. In reality, the peeing against the wall scene is funny in the film, but only in the context of what preceded it (really, trust me on this one). But, people seeing the preview/commercial will likely think the film is simply puerile.
While Talladega Nights is the comedy to see this summer, Beerfest is a decent choice for a matinee or a rental if you miss it in the theaters. Broken Lizard often receives the criticism of being "frat boy" humor. That may be the case, but it's pretty smart frat boy humor (most silly comedies don't feature numerous Das Boot references).