Movie Review
Beerfest
Beerfest poster
By Lee Tistaert     Published August 31, 2006
US Release: August 25, 2006

Directed by: Jay Chandrasekhar
Starring: Ryan Reynolds , Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson , Blanchard Ryan

R
Running Time: 110 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $19,179,969
D+
142 of 177
Beerfest is simply a horrible movie.
The Broken Lizard comedy group has been trying to restore the frat-boy comedy genre ever since Super Troopers. While I loved the opening, I wasn?t a big fan of Super Troopers (C+) and I didn?t like Club Dread (C), their follow-up. But Beerfest, their latest (which tries to mix Old School with Fight Club), was even worse than I expected. While it?s not as dull as Dukes of Hazzard (D+), Beerfest is so loud and silly that it?s just about as unbearable to watch.

This is one of those movies that sucks right from the first scene; the performances are over the top (exaggerated for comic relief), and every scene transition reinforces the nothingness of the plot (two brothers go to Germany for a beer-drinking competition). The movie plays a bit like Ghosts of Mars (D+) in that there is a lot of pointless activity and a heavy use of blaring music.

This is intended to be a party house movie, but all the characters are merely caricatures, which takes away most of its potential. Animal House (A-) was obviously a big inspiration to these guys, but it takes a fleshed out story to get there, and characters to identify with; having people running around drunk and screaming doesn't cut it (and in an embarrassing homage, the Lizard team even have Animal House?s Donald Sutherland as a dying German?).

Beerfest is simply a horrible movie. It is likely to develop a cult audience (given the beer and ?underground? feel), but probably not to the level of Super Troopers. You may have to be really drunk to enjoy this movie (or just love beer, which I don?t), which usually isn't a good sign.
Lee's Grade: D+
Ranked #142 of 177 between Van Wilder 2 (#141) and Big Momma's House 2 (#143) for 2006 movies.
Lee's Overall Grading: 3025 graded movies
A0.4%
B30.0%
C61.7%
D8.0%
F0.0%
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