 Nowadays, we may see director Todd Philips as something of a true artist with his work on 'Joker' and three Oscar nominations under his belt for it. But before he decided to blow us all away with sheer talent, he was best known as something of a "frat boy" director, tackling films like 'Road Trip', the 'Hangover' trilogy and this, which because something of a classic in its own right.
Released in 2003, this became the big college movie of its time, and it seemed to last for quite a while. In many ways, I found this to be my generation's answer to 'Animal House'. The funny thing is that it's not really a college movie. It just takes place on a college campus. It's also something of a benchmark for comedic actors, but more on that later. The film centers mainly on thee close friends. Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson), who has just broken up with his girlfriend, Heidi (Juliette Lewis); Frank "The Tank" (Will Ferrell), who is soon to be wed to the lovely Marissa (Perrey Reeves); and the not-so-blissfully married to Lara (Leah Remini) father of two, "Beanie" (Vince Vaughn). After the breakup, Mitch moves into a new home located just off the campus of Harrison University. There, Beanie has a party in Mitch's honour to house-warm as well as get him back on the dating horse. The party is a huge success, but their new hopes fade when the college dean, Gordon Pritchard (Jeremy Piven) shows up to ruin the fun. Gordon happens to be someone they used to pick on, and throughout the film tries whatever it takes to get them kicked off the grounds. It all starts by telling them the house is for college use only, and this causes the trio to create a fraternity in the hopes that they can stay. All the while, Mitch tries to make a good impression on his old high school crush, Nicole (Ellen Pompeo), who he runs into at Frank's wedding. However, slowly becoming a campus legend seemingly stands in the way. Going back to what I mentioned about this being a sort of benchmark movie for comedic actors, it's a good example of a title that seemed to give all three of these guys the boost they needed for mass recognition. In fairness, we all knew who these guys were from various other things, going into this movie. But there was something about the collective of these three that seemed to just work right, and each of them, I might suggest, was far more recognizable after this was released. I suppose, however, it depends on their respective fans. Speaking for myself, that was my experience. As usual, there are a couple of things here and there that might seem dated, but it's not enough to ruin a good time. This is a great movie to get the guys together for, along with a bunch of beer and have a guy's night in. Of all the titles I've put on this list of "drink-along" titles, it's probably the one I'd recommend highest to the masses, where your taste doesn't have to be all too specific like it might with 'Beerfest' or 'Strange Brew'. It's still a lot of fun after all these years, and it's interesting to watch again, being closer to the ages of these guys now than I was almost 20 years ago. In my opinion, it's most definitely the 'Animal House' of my generation.
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 It has been quite some time since I've seen this movie, so there were a few things that I didn't take into account. Once again, we have a late 70s classic that has unfortunately dated itself for any newcomers. But, laying my cards on the table, I have to say that despite any aged issues it may have, I still think it's a lot of fun. But one's viewing of it needs to sort of fit a particular scenario. More on that later.
Before I go forward with this one, though, a few things one really should know. First off, this was filmed before 'Dukes of Hazzard' aired. Therefore, do not be too shocked at the presence of a Confederate flag on the Bandit's '77 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am's license plate. Also, akin to the film's time is a lot of the humour involved. In fact, I laughed extra hard at one line in particular because it's so incredibly over the top offensive (or at least probably is to the average person. I tend to have a pretty dark sense of humour). Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) is approached by a wealthy Texan named "Big" Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick), along with his tiny son, "Little Enos" (Paul Williams). They offer him $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors (yeah, this is a big beer commercial, too) from Texarkana to Atlanta in the span of 28 hour. Even though this sounds like a fairly natural process, one must understand that this film is dated in another way - at the time, in certain locations of America, there was prohibition. So to make a long story short, our man the Bandit here is taking part in bootlegging. As for why the Enos' want this Coors; they are sponsoring a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic, and want to celebrate in style when their car wins. The Bandit accepts the task, recruiting his partner, Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to do the truck-driving. Bandit's role in this operation is to be a "blocker"; someone who will divert the attention of law enforcement away from illegal cargo. Said law enforcement comes in the form of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and his bumbling son, Junior (Mike Henry). They inadvertently begin chasing Bandit by chance after Junior's runaway bride, Carrie (Sally Field) hitches a ride with him. So much of what we have here is a bit of a Wyle E. Coyote/Roadrunner situation. And I think it's also safe to say that this one is a bit of a time capsule of a film, considering the laws of the time and a few other details about it I already mentioned. But speaking of going back to things I mentioned, I was talking about viewing this in a particular scenario. Aside from just watching it for yourself, I would recommend that this is a bit of a "dude" film, and therefore needs to be seen with a "dude" frame of mine. This is a movie where you get your buddies together, crack open some Coors (or other beer that suits your taste a bit better) and go along for the ride without overthinking any of the potentially offensive things that might be in it. It's definitely a product of its time, but I do think that with the right frame of mind, this can still be a lot of fun.  While this lands under the 'Screening Suggestions' category, I must admit that I suggest it very loosely. There's nothing particularly special about this title. It's pretty predictable, and nothing about it comes as a surprise. However, it is a neat little slice-of-life movie that features some pretty humanized characters who exist in grey as opposed to black and white.
Revolution Brewing Company employs friends Kate (Olivia Wilde and Luke (Jake Johnson). While their chemistry is solid, they are otherwise involved; Kate with a quiet, humble guy named Chris (Ron Livingston) and Luke with Jill, who's a sweet girl next door type. Eventually, during a night out, the couples meet, and Chris invites Luke and Jill to visit his cottage. While there, the couples spend a significant amount of alone time with each other's partners, so it's pretty obvious from the get-go how things will go down. However, most of the movie is about Luke's hidden feelings for Kate, and again, I'm just gonna say, this movie isn't exactly full of surprises. But while the main focus is a Luke and Kate story, the film really is about looking at your significant other and whether or not you're right for each other. In that sense, it's a pretty interesting and down-to-earth look at the way we think of things, and I think it's interesting that each character has a little piece of "wrong" and a little piece of "right" to them. I would probably suggest that if you're looking for some kind of crazy, after-dark comedy about boozin' it up, you look elsewhere. Although this is is something of a romantic comedy, I would say that the drama overshadows it. That said, it's also not what one would consider melodramatic. It's a look at some of the sadder parts of relationships that we have all either been through or may very well face one day. To me, that's the charm that the film brings with it. It's just a nice little package of a story that highlights real-life situations in a way that feels natural. Just in case you're wondering where this one lies on the taste scale, it comes from director Joe Swanberg. This is the guy responsible for 'The Rental' and 'V/H/S' segment '"The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger". Otherwise, one might be pretty unfamiliar with this guy. He seems to like it in the shadows of indie filmmaking, but I've so far enjoyed his material. I don't "fanboy" over him like I do with Edgar Wright, but I would consider him to be a name to look out for in the near future. He could help bring a more humanized drama to the screen. Anyway, this is a bit of a hard one to find, so you might just want to rent it for a night in with a few beers or glasses of wine, depending on your taste. The atmosphere this movie gives off feels very "Sunday afternoon", so may I suggest a midday weekend viewing in the middle of Spring or Summer with the light pouring in. That's pretty specific, I know, but for some reason, it feels like it fits. The film is about as casual as its title. It's not aiming for any major awards or anything. It's just a nice slice-of-life title with a bittersweet ending that feels all too familiar.  Going way back to before even I was born, there was a sketch comedy show called 'SCTV' (or 'Second City Television') that ran from 1976 to 1981. This was a proudly Canadian show that boasted such names in their early days as Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Harold Ramis, Catherine O'Hara, the wonderful John Candy (RIP), and this film's stars, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.
While some of these names may not seem familiar to the younger ones reading this, you'd probably be able to recognize most, if not all of them to see them. This show was sort of Canada's answer to 'SNL', and without either, I might not have my beloved 'Ghostbusters'. Anyway, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas would create two TV host characters named Bob and Doug McKenzie. The pair hosts 'The Great White North', and essentially created the original Canadian stereotype. Almost everything ends with "eh", they love their beer and donuts, they use terms like "hoser", and almost became the pride of Canada for a little while - two authentic Canadians making fun of Canadians? What could be better? These two basically owned the Canadian stereotype until 'South Park' came along and put a whole new spin on it. It all starts basically enough as another one of their famous skits where they show a theatrical audience a really poorly made movie. The audience gets angry, and the plot eventually gets going after the two have to make an escape from their own movie screening. Upon getting home, they stick a little mouse inside an empty beer bottle in an attempt to get some free Elsinor beer. The Beer Store, however, tells them to complain to the higher-ups. They do so and get slapped with jobs, inspecting bottles for mice, among other things. What they don't know, however, is what the evil Brewmeister Smith (Max von Sydow) has planned - essentially a takeover using mind control drugs in their bottled beer. The formula gets tested on mental patients and is evidently a success. Meanwhile, there's also a murder plot involving the original brewery owner, John Elsinore (the death), his daughter, Pam (Lynne Griffin), and her Uncle Claude (Paul Dooley). This basically, of course, all comes down to the McKenzie brothers stopping Brewmeister Smith before he can distribute his mind control beer. I should probably point out that this was made in 1983, and I do have a certain bias towards it considering a bunch of things about it - it's something I saw when I was a kid, a lot of the filming was done around my home town, and it's almost authentically Canadian. To help, it does not take itself seriously one iota. I could see some of the younger audience having trouble with it nowadays, but this really speaks to us Canadian kids of the 80s. It's still pretty fun, so grab yourself a beer and drink-along to this fun-filled Canadian classic, eh.  Not everyone in the world is gonna be altogether familiar with the "Broken Lizard" film series. Those who are familiar tend to lean towards 'Super Troopers' as the best of them - and it's pretty easy to understand why. However, in the meantime, I tend to look at 'Beerfest' as my personal favourite of the bunch. In case anyone's wondering what else they've done - 'Club Dread' and 'Super Troopers 2' is about it, so there's not a whole lot to choose from.
This one had a very limited theatrical release as opposed to the others, and I quite honestly thought it was a straight-to-video deal at the time. Regardless, it has become the Broken Lizard movie that I like introducing people to, even if it didn't do quite as well as 'Super Troopers', critically. Personally, I feel like it's an overlooked comedy title that people tend to turn their noses up at. But for me, it's full of all the hilarious random humour I could ask for, and though low-brow, it's definitely underrated in my opinion. But much like the beer held within, it may be an acquired taste for many. It all starts when brothers Jan and Todd Wolfhouse (Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske, respectively) attend their grandfather Johann's (Donald Sutherland) funeral. There, the brothers are instructed to spread their grandfather's ashes at Oktoberfest in Munich, Switzerland. While in Munich, they stumble upon a traditional underground drinking competition between countries called "Beerfest". It just so happens to be run by a distant relative of theirs, but the German team angrily accuses Johann of being a beer recipe thief, and continues to drink the American brothers under the table, annihilating them from any hopes of competition. From there, the brothers swear revenge on the German team to defend their grandfather's good name. They eventually recruit old drinking friends from their college days - Binge drinker Phil "Landfill" Krundle (Kevin Heffernan), Jewish scientist Charlie "Fink" Finklestein (Steve Lemme) and now male prostitute, Barry Badrinath (Jay Chandrasekhar). Together with the help of the brothers' Gam Gam (Cloris Leachman) they train for the next competition while uncovering the truth behind their family's past, and perhaps even stumbling on the perfect beer recipe in the process (if what the Germans say about their grandfather is true). I feel like as far as the comedy goes in here, there's a little something for everyone even if the movie as a whole isn't necessarily up your alley. For the older crowd, you have people like Donald Sutherland and Cloris Leachman in here, who are both great at tickling that funny bone (even if it is for a short time). On top of that, the Germans as the villains here are hilarious with the way they talk and intimidate - that might sound worse than it's meant to, but just give it a watch and you'll see what I mean. Everything's one extreme or the other with these guys - extremely polite or extremely nasty. Going back to what I said about this perhaps being an acquired taste, I would strongly suggest giving this a proper chance if you are a fan of 'Super Troopers' and haven't seen it. There's a good chance that you'll still find 'Super Troopers' superior (and in many ways, it is) but there's something about the random and even ridiculous comedy that makes this a lot of fun to watch. It's the kind of comedy you go into knowing that it's gonna be stupid, so I'd suggest not taking any of it seriously at all. It's a movie meant for a good time, so get some drinking buddies together and try to keep up with these guys! |
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