Beer Fest in Pocatello
Jeff Strickler ; McClatchy Newspapers
Issue date: 8/30/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
The members of Broken Lizard comedy troupe can never be accused of not delivering what they promise. This raunchy farce might not be your cup of tea _ or pilzner _ but fans of the group's earlier movies ("Super Troopers" and "Club Dread") know what to expect: cleverly construed bad taste.
The basic premise is a spoof of "Fight Club" that replaces boxing competitions with beer drinking contests. But it also takes swipes at "The Blues Brothers" and the Olympics. And, of course, there are the usual shotgun-scatter jokes that don't have anything to do with anything other than the filmmakers" off-the-wall sense of humor.
It's an ensemble cast featuring all the members of the troupe, but Erik Stolhanske and Paul Soter have the most prominent parts. On a trip to Germany, they stumble into an annual beer-drinking championship and go down in humiliating defeat.
They return to the States determined to set things right at next year's championship. They recruit their old drinking buddies (the rest of the Lizard contingent, including Jay Chandrasekhar, who again serves as director) and start "training," a regimen that consists mainly of drinking beer until they pass out.
The Broken Lizard troupe was formed when the members were attending Colgate University. They have an atypical comedic philosophy: Most of the jokes are straight out of the gutter, but the set-ups often are quite smart. You might end up being insulted by the punch line, but you have to pay attention to get there.
___
BEERFEST
Starring: Erik Stolhanske, Paul Soter, Jay Chandrasekhar
Rated R for crude humor, sexual content, profanity, nudity and alcohol abuse.
__
(c)2006 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Visit the Star Tribune on the Web athttp://www.startribune.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune
Information Services
The basic premise is a spoof of "Fight Club" that replaces boxing competitions with beer drinking contests. But it also takes swipes at "The Blues Brothers" and the Olympics. And, of course, there are the usual shotgun-scatter jokes that don't have anything to do with anything other than the filmmakers" off-the-wall sense of humor.
It's an ensemble cast featuring all the members of the troupe, but Erik Stolhanske and Paul Soter have the most prominent parts. On a trip to Germany, they stumble into an annual beer-drinking championship and go down in humiliating defeat.
They return to the States determined to set things right at next year's championship. They recruit their old drinking buddies (the rest of the Lizard contingent, including Jay Chandrasekhar, who again serves as director) and start "training," a regimen that consists mainly of drinking beer until they pass out.
The Broken Lizard troupe was formed when the members were attending Colgate University. They have an atypical comedic philosophy: Most of the jokes are straight out of the gutter, but the set-ups often are quite smart. You might end up being insulted by the punch line, but you have to pay attention to get there.
___
BEERFEST
Starring: Erik Stolhanske, Paul Soter, Jay Chandrasekhar
Rated R for crude humor, sexual content, profanity, nudity and alcohol abuse.
__
(c)2006 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Visit the Star Tribune on the Web athttp://www.startribune.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune
Information Services
2008 Woodie Awards
Be the first to comment on this story