Beerfest (2006)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Jay Chandrasekhar

Writers (WGA):

Jay Chandrasekhar (written by) &
Kevin Heffernan (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Brewed in 2006

Plot:

Two brothers travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, only to stumble upon secret, centuries-old competition described as a "Fight Club" with beer games.

Plot Keywords:

Beer | Competition | Oktoberfest | Germany | Fight

Cast

M.C. Gainey	...	Priest
Paul Soter	...	Jan Wolfhouse
Erik Stolhanske	...	Todd Wolfhouse / Young Baron Ludwig
Cloris Leachman	...	Great Gam Gam
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen (as Juergen Prochnow)
Cameron Scher	...	Helmut
Owain Yeoman	...	Aussie Sailor #1
Tom Tate	...	Aussie Sailor #2
Allan Graf	...	Soup Waiter
Chris Moss	...	German Producer
Bjorn Johnson	...	Mr. Schniedelwichsen (as Bjørn Johnson)
Kevin Heffernan	...	Landfill / Gil / Sausage Lady
Jay Chandrasekhar	...	Barry / Blind Sikh
Steve Lemme	...	Fink / Emcee
Collin Thornton	...	Little Boy

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, language, nudity and substance abuse.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:R21 | UK:15 (cut theatrical version) | Germany:16 (nf) | UK:18 (re-rating) (DVD version) (2006) (uncut) | UK:18 (uncut DVD version) | UK:18 (DVD rating) (uncut) | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Malaysia:18SX (unrated DVD version) | South Korea:18 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque Press Club - 201 Highland Park Circle SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Beerfest was inspired by Broken Lizard's experiences at Colgate University, as well as a spontaneous "boat race" drinking contest at a beer festival between the comedy troupe members and Australians during the promotion of Super Troopers (2001). The names of some of the characters in Beerfest are taken from classmates and fraternity brothers at Colgate University, including the nickname "Landfill" and a brief mention of "Tommy Malarky". After the German cast members completed their final day of filming, the American and German cast competed in another boat race; the Broken Lizard team won two out of three games.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Octoberfest is in September.

Quotes:

Todd Wolfhouse: [to Germans during a beer pong match] Loser takes a paddle up the ass.

Movie Connections:

References An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Soundtrack:

Have a Drink on Me

You won't regret having seen Beerfest the morning after...

Caught Beerfest last night in Milwaukee at a special screening. Heffernan and Stolhanske were there to introduce it. Broken Lizard's Beerfest is HILARIOUS. I really liked Super Troopers (although it's a bit too self-aware at times), and Club Dread was more of a miscalculation than a misstep. It was a solid flick and a superior horror film spoof to the Scary Movie series that lost a lot of people because the BL guys played such different characters than in Super Troopers. They got a little too far away from what people loved about Super Troopers. Puddle Cruiser, their first film from 1996, is a great little indie flick with some great characters and lines that just never really adds up to anything special. But, it's very worthy of checking out. Beerfest is a whole different monster. It's loose and confident and ditches the overly punchy dialogue of their preceding films. It takes its time to get going, but when it does, the laughs come unbelievably fast. Many lines were lost in the laughter.

There isn't much of a plot (as would be expected), but it's better than I would have guessed and revolves around 2 brothers (Soter and Stolhanske) who discover their German ancestry and stumble upon an event that would make Oktoberfest its bitch. Beerfest. The brothers are shamed by their long lost German relatives and accused of hiding an old, stolen beer recipe. Upon their return to America, they decide to honor their family name and train for next year's Beerfest. They recruit three other team members (Heffernan, Chandresehkar, and Lemme). The middle third of the movie is the funniest, which features the team's training. It feels a little long as a whole, but most of the film moves quite fast. While Stolhanske stole Puddle Cruiser as Freaky Reaky, Heffernan stole Super Troopers as Farva, and Lemme stole Club Dread as Juan, Jay Chandresehkar owns Beerfest. Who says the director can't have some fun? His character is sort of a perverted, sexual deviant/prostitute on-the-side who is a former beer games champion who has just lost his chops. I don't wanna spoil anything more, but this movie is completely hysterical.

Even if you didn't love Super Troopers, this still might be for you. There were things in all previous Broken Lizard movies than I could understand some might think were "annoying," but that style is absent here. If you dig Broken Lizard's stuff, you'll love this. If you like "Old School," you'll have a good time with Beerfest. If you love beer, this movie is for you. If you're an Adam Sandler fan, well, this flick is probably too sophisticated for you so you best stay away. Beerfest has all I could ever want from my comedies. Tons of laughs, memorable characters, tons and tons of nudity, and it never pusses out. This is a hard "R" folks. Check it out and leave any Broken Lizard pretenses at the door.

8/10