Theme Week - Broken Lizard; Puddle Cruiser

Closing out Broken Lizard Week, and as I said waaaay back on day one I would be covering these films in the order in which I saw them, so we start – of course, with their first film. A film they made just as they graduated college, so, of course the film deals with college life. It’s called Puddle Cruiser.

Let me just get this out of the way first – as far as Broken Lizard films go, I think that I will always put this last. For starters, it comes off as a pretty weak college drama with only the smallest glimmers of the comedy stylings that the guys have come to be known for. I could say that it is because I don’t identify with the college stereotypes that the guys put forward (first projects are always “write what you know”, so I can’t fault them), but really, at the center of this film is a rather dull love story. This time around it’s Lemme’s turn as hero, playing Felix, a student who goes and falls in love with Emily, the student lawyer in charge of defending his buddies, Matt and Grogan, who have been charged with breaking into a campus restaurant. Meanwhile, Emily’s other boyfriend (they are in a “seeing other people” relationship) gets pissed off, so Felix has to prove his manliness on the rugby field. I would say that hilarity ensues, but, outside of a few minor places, it really doesn’t. In fact, I was a little taken back by how much of a relationship drama this film is.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that I don’t actually like this film, because I did like it; and it definitely shows the seeds of talent that the five guys would show in all later films, especially Heffernan and Soter as Grogan and Matt. This, being a college project, is the only one of their films that isn’t dripping with guest stars – in fact, the rest of the cast is made up of their classmates, teachers and family members (some work, and some don’t – that’s what you get when you work with amateurs).

All in all, it’s more a curiousity than anything, especially for Broken Lizard fans. Just don’t go in expecting the zaniness of their later work.

Theme Week - Broken Lizard; The Slammin' Salmon

We come, now, to the Broken Lizard boys’ most recent film – The Slammin’ Salmon. And, unlike the previous three, it is a film that I have (as of writing this review) only seen the once, however I did enjoy it enough that I will no doubt be watching it again at some point.

Set over one night at The Slammin’ Salmon, a restaurant owned by ex world champion boxer “Slammin” Cleon Salmon, the film deals with the wait staff as they deal with obnoxious customers, each other and Cleon’s debts to the Yakuza. He owes the Yakuza head $20,000 and so challenges his staff to come up with the money over one night, with the highest seller getting $10k and the lowest getting beat up by him. Over the night, the team have to contend with an uppity singer and her entourage, a celebrity couple and a disappearing engagement ring and the fact that they keep sabotaging each other to try and win that $10 grand. Who wins? You’ll find out.

As per the other films, the guys once again switch it up with some pretty good results, although Kevin Heffernan gets to play the hero at the end, Paul Soter also gets to run with the role (well, one of his roles is, the other is a total asshole). And, as per always, the manage to pull in a few big names – Colbie Smulders, Vivica A Fox, Lance Henriksen, Morgan Fairchild and Michael Clarke Duncan (who is just having a hell of a time as Salmon himself) amongst others get to work alongside the team. And much like every other film, they are more than willing to get as silly as the guys, and that is what makes it all work.

If you are a fan of Waiting, Office Space, Clerks or really any “customer service” film, you’ll get something out of The Slammin’ Salmon. And if you like well done comedy, you’ll definitely get something out of The Slammin’ Salmon.

As I said, I have only seen this film the once, but I will be watching it again.

Theme Week - Broken Lizard; Beerfest

We continue Broken Lizard Week with the guy’s fourth film (and third that I saw of theirs), and some would say their best – Beerfest.  And before we continue, a minor CSB: when I saw this film at the cinema, it was the only time in all my many years of cinema attendance, that the projectionist screwed up the reels, instead of getting a standard 1-2-3-4 viewing experience, I got 1-3-2-4. Noone complained, but we all knew. So, it wasn’t until years later when I bought the DVD that I actually saw the film in its proper order. Funtimes were had by all.

Long story short, the brothers Wolfhouse (Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske, this time getting to play the heroes rather than the zany guys) get roped into competing in Beerfest, a secret underground drinking game contest, when they discover that their grandfather may have stolen a recipe for the greatest beer in all the world. During their yearlong training routine, they discover that they are the true heirs to both the recipe and the von Wolfhausen brewery an together with the rest of the team, Landfill (Kevin Heffernan) – a professional eater, Fink Finkelstein (Steve Lemme) – a beer obsessed chemist, and Barry Badrinath (Jay Chandrasekhar) – a homeless male prostitute return to Germany to take back their heritage from their German cousins.

As I mentioned in my Super Troopers review, the guys get some pretty big names to run alongside them, and Beerfest is no different as Donald Sutherland, Cloris Leachman, Wil Forte and Jurgen Prochnow all willingly going along with the lunacy of the story. Leachman and Forte, particularly damn near steal the movie as Gam Gam Wolfhouse and Otto, respectively.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of the whole “you need to watch it multiple times to really like it” defence when it comes to comedy films – if I don’t find you funny the first time, then why the hell would I bother wasting my time with watching you again? However, I will let you in on a secret – I have not more than merely “liked” a Broken Lizard film the first time I saw them, and it was only on subsequent watches that I loved them. That being said, Beerfest (while not my favourite film of theirs) is the closest I have come to immediately loving a Broken Lizard film.

If you like jokes about drinking, stupid humour or Wil Forte doing a silly German accent, then you really should do yourself the service of seeing Beerfest.

Theme Week - Broken Lizard; Club Dread

We continue with our Broken Lizard Week with my favourite film of theirs, and (for reasons unknown to me) a film that brings a lot of ire, primarily from people who just know them from Super Troopers. That film? Club Dread.

Working both as an affectionate parody of, and a spoof of 80’s slasher film (and we all know my feelings on good parody/spoof films and not bad “spoof” films), Club Dread takes place on Coconut Island, a party resort owned by Coconut Pete (no prizes for guessing who he is based on *cough*Jimmy Buffett*cough*). And yes, it is a nonstop party – unfortunately, there is a psycho running about, killing off everyone and generally making a right ol’ mess of things. Who is it and can they be stopped before they off everyone? Well, if I answer any of that, then I’ll be spoiling things, won’t I?

Once again, the boys come off looking as though they are a professional team (and by this point, they really are) who are capable of making a great film. As I mentioned in my Super Troopers review, the guys don’t subscribe to “one guy, one style” in their roles, as Kevin Heffernan (who played a complete jerk in that film) was given the role of the hero and carries it off beautifully. And, as per always, they pull in some big names including Bill Paxton who is frikkin’ hilarious as Coconut Pete.

Yes, this is flat out comedy, but with a few minor scares – however, if you grew up on 80’s slasher films (as the BL team did), you can pretty much know what to expect and it’s all done with a sense of respect for the source material that will leave you feeling as though you have seen a decent and funny film.

I know this review was a heck of a lot shorter than others, but really, I don’t know what else to say – if you like 80’s slasher films, see this. If you like other Broken Lizard films, see this.

Theme Week - Broken Lizard; Super Troopers

This week, I figure I would do a bit of a theme week. And for that theme, I have decided to review the films of one of my favourite comedy teams (I don’t really know how else to classify them, as they only really make films together – no stage shows or the like). Well, anyway, over a period of 10 years and five films (technically they’ve been making films for 17 years now, but I hadn’t seen their very first film until recently), I’ve been nothing but entertained by Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme and Erik Stolhanske – collectively known as Broken Lizard.

Anyway, I’ll be doing these films in the order in which I have seen them, which mean that I will be starting off with their most well loved film, the second film they made (and first with an actual budget) – Super Troopers.

The Spurbury, Vermont, State Troopers department is facing budget cuts and a possible closure, due in part to the fact that their squadron are prank obsessed idiots. In addition to their continuing in fighting and pranking each other, they also have to contend with the Spurbury Police Department (their sworn enemies and other possible closure) and an influx of drugs and murder. Eventually, they find out that it’s up to them to break the mystery and hopefully save their station.

As far as Broken Lizard movies go, this is probably the perfect introduction to them (as it was to myself and many others) as it showcases not only the lad’s style of humour, but each man gets their moment to shine, thus giving you full introduction to the fact that they don’t all subscribe to “one guy does one style”. Sure, you will get to see this in action in the other films, especially as it pertains to Kevin and Jay, but there are glimmers in this film. In addition to the boys themselves, in each film they manage to pull in some bigger name actors who all get the joke and play along willingly – and Super Troopers is no different, with the always brilliant Brian Cox as the State Trooper commander, Daniel Von Bargen as the Police Chief and Lynda Carter as the town mayor.

Like I said, this is probably the perfect introduction to the Broken Lizard style, so if you haven’t checked it out, definitely give it a looking.