From the time humans first stumbled upon fermentation, achieved their first "buzz," and then suffered from the world's first hangover, people have consumed various forms of alcohol for a variety of reasons. Many do so to get inebriated (ranging from a slight high to falling down drunk), others to relax, some to fit in (peer pressure) and the rest simply because they like the taste and/or any combination of any or all of the above.
Then there are those who've turned drinking into a competitive sport of sorts where the last man (or woman) standing (after consuming mass quantities) is the "winner" (at least until the alcohol gets its revenge -- whether immediately thereafter or the next day). Considering that many people associate drinking with "fun," it seems natural to make a comedy about such matters.
Somewhat falling in the drunken footsteps of movies such as "Arthur, "Animal House," "The Bad News Bears" and "Bad Santa," "Beerfest" hopes to elicit belly laughs from beer bellies and other subjects all draft-related.
As many people already know, however, what seems funny while intoxicated oft isn't when sober. That leaves one to think that the cast and crew of this film may have been knocking back a few during filming, believing they were creating hilarious comedy when, in fact, their offering is about as appetizing and funny as stale beer on a frat room floor the morning after a big, blowout party.
Then again, that might be acceptable for some as that's the likely target audience for this lame offering that's made by and stars the members of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard. If that name doesn't ring a bell, it's probably because you've never seen or even heard of their previous entries in the world of bad filmmaking: "Super Troopers" and "Club Dread."
Simply put, if you enjoyed the comedy stylings and sense of humor found in those films, as well as the caliber of the acting, direction and writing, this picture might go down like a cold brew. If not, this will seem like just more of the same juvenile nonsense that fueled those earlier efforts. Lifting scenes from other films, paying homage to others and trying to craft some new material, director/star Jay Chandrasekhar and the rest of the co-writing, co-starring Lizards have tried to stretch what are essentially just a bunch of skits (or pieces thereof) into a full-length movie.
The story's quite simple, although that may have worked in the hands of more skilled filmmakers. Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske play American siblings who travel to Germany's Oktoberfest to spread the ashes of their recently departed grandfather (played by Donald Sutherland in one of those "what was he thinking" cameos). They then stumble across an underground drinking competition known as Beerfest.
Their distant relatives turn out to be the champions who not only defeat them in a drinking match, but also sully the name of their grandmother (played by Cloris Leachman trying to tap into the zaniness that worked in "Young Frankenstein" but fails here) and accuse their dearly departed grandfather of stealing the secret family beer recipe. The rest of the film simply involves them returning to the states, recruiting some drinkers to fill-out their drinking team, practicing for a year, and then attending the next Beerfest challenge.
Not surprisingly, most of the comedy is supposed to stem from all of that drinking (both in practice and competition), but that's where the filmmakers most significantly come up short. Beyond a few initial chuckles from a "beer goggles" scene that quickly wears out its welcome (where Chandrasekhar's character allows the alcohol to make him think he's a cool, smooth-talking dude and his girl a hottie when he's really slurring his words and she's a severely overweight, but randy lady), the rest (including a group urination scene that has more participants but fewer laughs than a similarly related moment in one of those "Austin Powers" flicks) fall flat.
And they, like that scene, drag on far too long when the jokes have already run their course or been predicted before the supposed punch line. I suppose some viewers might find a researcher masturbating a frog, the guys drinking ram urine, Chandrasekhar's character offering some gay male prostitute services at a bargain rate, and all of the purposefully over-played German accents amusing, funny, or even hilarious. Yet, everyone else will likely view them as uninspired as the homage to movies such as "An American Werewolf in London" and "Das Boot" (from which the characters drink -- as in the foot apparel and not submarine mode).
But like that latter undersea vehicle, this film sinks to new lows trying to elicit laughs. Likely to give anyone who's grown out of adolescence -- literally and/or mentally -- a headache and leave a bad taste in their mouths, "Beerfest" stinks like stale, leftover brewskies. It rates as a 1 out of 10.
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