Wicked comic appeal in drunken ‘Beerfest’
By Julie Brown-Micko

If you enjoy a slice or two of American Pie and wouldn’t pass on a trip to White Castle with Harold and Kumar, then Beerfest may be just what you need to slake your thirst for rude, juvenile and politically incorrect comedy.

Two beer-loving brothers, Jan (Paul Soter) and Todd Wolfhouse (Eric Stolhanske) head to Munich to scatter their father’s ashes at Oktoberfest. But a mysterious stranger leads them to a super-secret underground beer festival that makes Oktoberfest look like a garden party. A cross between Fight Club, the Olympics, and a Kung-Fu style death match, “Beerfest” celebrates the sport of extreme drinking. Even for the most sober, drama-loving cinemaphiles among us, there is a wicked comic appeal in this crazy, over-the-top proposition. The brothers quickly find themselves trading insults with the German beer drinking team, who tell them to “go und drink your Zimas and Smirnoff Ices!” Humbled but not defeated, Jan and Todd return home to assemble the first-ever American team to compete in Beerfest.

The yearlong training regimen involves perfecting beer drinking/chugging techniques and polishing the skills necessary for Turbo Quarters, Beer Pong and Upside-Down Monkey Shots. Incredibly silly and crude with pacing that swings wildly from frenetic to sluggish, the jokes are hit and miss. The five starring members of the movie — Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske — all members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, have the comic chops, but perhaps not the stamina, for an entire movie focused on frat house drinking antics. Nevertheless, the movie has some very funny moments and celebrity cameos from the likes of Donald Sutherland, Cloris Leachman and Mo’Nique add to the heady, hysterical brew.

If you are the kind of person who will be turned off by gratuitous shots of bare female anatomy being sprayed with a good German lager (one of the tamer moments in this movie), you may want to move on down the movie-rental aisle to Sideways for more elegant humor. But if Dumb & Dumber gags are your bag, pick up Beerfest. And be sure to watch the credits for some juicy out-takes.