 | |  |  | | Media: | HD DVD | | Country: | USA | | Studio: | Warner Home Video | | Discs: | 1 |
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Screen captures are for illustration purposes and may not originate from the item reviewed. | | Beerfest Review| HD DVD review written by Simon Crust, published 6th March 2007 | Supplied for review by  | It was 1986, I was leaving school and, in a rare moment, chanced to watch some TV rather than pop a video in the recorder. There was a music show on, something like The Tube, or Rapido, or something like that and they happened to show a trailer for a film. A film that I sensed would be quite outstanding. Just from that few brief minutes I gorged myself and made up my mind that this was a film I was going to see and one that I would eventually end up owning. And I was right. Funny how split second decisions like that can often turn out to be the right ones. Fast forward twenty years and the DVD news on AVPlay, here I was collating all the latest releases and I post up one from Warner Home Video. Again I find myself making that split second decision; though this time around I felt the film was going to suck. And just like twenty years ago, I was right. Ladies and gentlemen tonight’s feature and subject of that news report is Beerfest, hold tight it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
As the name implies, Beerfest, is about drinking. More specifically it is about a secret underground drinking event, run at the same time as Oktoberfest, where competing countries play drinking games to be crowned the year’s winner. The Germans are the undisputed champions and when Jan and Todd Wolfhouse, two Americans sent to spread the ashes of their dead grandfather, are humiliated during the course of the event, they vow to return the following year and enter team USA to win back their pride. Cue the brothers forming a team comprising of ex-collage mates that held dubious titles of ‘best at drinking games’ etc. The rest of the film comprises of the team practicing drinking, drinking at parties, drinking at bars and then finally drinking at the competition. The final showdown between the German team and the USA team is over a fabled recipe, apparently stolen by the boy’s grandfather from their very own cousins and opponents. But in the end who cares.
Beerfest was brought to you by the same team behind Super Troopers (2001) and Club Dread (2004), so really you can’t expect much can you? But even that would be too much. The film is base, puerile and immature. Worst yet it is not even funny, for a film billed as a comedy to not be funny, well there’s something not right there. Everything is played for the base laugh. Even the stereotypical characterisation from the ‘fat American’ and ‘Jewish scientist nerd’ to the ‘blond bimbo’ Swedish team the appalling accents given to the British team and the over exaggeration of the Germans. Typically these would be seen as comic exaggerations here they come off as borderline racist. The drinking is done with total disregard and with no consequence. I know the film is a ‘lad’s film’ and one shouldn’t expect morals but it is so blatant as to be crass. Animal House (1978), the godfather, is chock full of drinking, but never is there a time when it comes across as it does with Beerfest.
The direction is particularly lazy with a pacing that meanders along from one drinking game to the next. The ‘stages of drunk’ was quite nicely seen in the team’s first practice and the beer goggles scene was aptly done, yet when trying to instil some sort of patriotism with the home team, such obvious tactics stand out as, well, obvious. I did quite like the Schwarzenegger quotes sprinkled through out the film, but that was about the only high point for me. I really didn’t get on with this film. Even in this ‘unrated’ form with some ten minutes more of material, presumably more swearing and a few more boobies, there is nothing to be entertained with. Personally I’d have preferred a shorter cut.
Movie score : 1 | | 667 word review written by Simon Crust. |  | This review is sponsored by Movietyme
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| 1 Beerfest |  | USA | HD DVD |  | 30/01/07 | | | 8 | 7 | 6 |
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