With Oktoberfest happening this weekend in Tulsa, I thought I’d look at Beerfest, the 2006 comedy made by Broken Lizard. Even though the movie barely broke even at the box office and got mixed reviews, it remains one of the comedy troupe’s best movies second to their breakthrough hit Super Troopers.
Two brothers of German ancestry, Jan Wolfhouse (Paul Soter) and his brother, Todd (Erik Stolhanske), are tasked by their Great Gam Gam (Cloris Leachmen) with taking the ashes of their recently departed grandfather, Johnann Von Wolfhouse (Donald Sutherland in a cameo) to Munich for the annual Oktoberfest to spread in an open square. Unfortunately, while celebrating, they unintentionally cause an Rube Goldberg-style incident that leads to a lot of accidents and the whole tent collapsing.
They are taken by a local who knows who they are to Beerfest in a secluded hidden location only acceptable by a password. What they don’t realize is that they are persona non grata with the event’s host, Baron Wolfgang Von Wolfhausen (Jurgen Prochnow), who is the heir to the Von Wolfhausen brewery. His grandsons, Rolf (Nat Faxon), Otto (Will Forte), Gunther (Eric Christian Olsen), Hammacher (Raif Moller), and Schlemmer (Gunther Schlierkemp), are the German representation at Beerfest and they’ve just won.
Jan and Todd are surprised to learn there is no American team nor their own drinking abilities are mocked by everyone in attendance. Baron is upset because he says their ancestor stole the receipe to the greatest beer in the world with their Great Gam Gam who was a prostitute in her youth, something they don’t believe. A fight breaks out and Baron spreads the ashes over them in mockery.
They go back to their Colorado home determined to arrange a team to compete the following year. These include Phil “Landfill” Krundle (Kevin Heffernan), a competitive eater and former brewery worker fired for stealing from the job. Also included is Jan and Todd’s college friend, Charlie “Fink” Finkelstein (Steve Lemme), a brilliant university scientist who is thrilled to know he will be competing against the German. Finally, there’s Barry Badrinath (Jay Chandresekhar), who used to be great at quarters and beer pong, but has a checkered history. He now has to perform sex acts for money. He also had a fling with Todd’s wife so they’re is tension between the two.
Starting out slow, they realize it’s going to take some work, as they can’t even polish a keg between the five of them. They attend parties at the local university and learn to build up their tolerance. Great Gam Gam tells them they should learn how to drink ram’s urine as they will then be able to drink anything. Over time, they slowly start to build a tolerance. But when Landfill is messing around with BoBo, a treasured puppet of their grandfather’s, they discover that hides the recipe Baron accused him of taking.
When they brew it, they discover it’s the best beer ever and begin to brew it for sale. But problems arise as Landfill’s marriage and family life is in jeopardy. Fink’s research goes awry and he accidentally breeds mutant animals. Eventually, they learn that Cherry (Mo’Nique), who is Great Gam Gam’s housekeeper, is actually a spy and the Baron’s mistress. And after a setback I won’t mention to anyone who hasn’t seen it, they rebound and head to Germany to compete.
With all its silly games and absurdist comedy, the movie manages to be one great comedy you can watch over and over again. I mean, it has three Oscar winners (Leachman, Mo’Nique and Faxon, who won for co-writing The Descendants), so it definitely has talent. Even though most of the actors, Sutherland and Leachman included, who are playing Germans have bad accents, it’s a comedy. You’re not expect the skills of Daniel Day-Lewis or Meryl Streep.
While Leachman was no stranger to comedy thanks to her work with Mel Brooks and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, it seems in the last few decades, she was the go-to actress anytime someone needed a “crazy old woman” for a role. While it is funny that the guys are weirded out by her being a “whore,” there’s only so much you can do. Prochnow is a surprise when it comes to comedy. He has that intense face and rough look, but he manages to work well with the rest of the cast.
The troupe themselves prove that they can be just as good as actors as they are comics. While Landfill seems to be a cousin to Heffernan’s Rod Farva, it’s Chandrasekhar as Barry who seems to play the wild fool this time around. Lemme does a good job of playing up the Jewish stereotypes without being too offensive making Fink a character instead of a caricature. But it’s Soter and Stolhanske who work best in the straight man leads as the Wolfhouse brothers.
Let’s face it anyone who could drink this much beer would be severely ill or even dead. Even if they work on a tolerance, it would and could do severe damage to their bodies. But it’s just a delight to see the Broken Lizards work together in like they did in Super Troopers. Part of the probem with Club Dread and The Slammin’ Salmon, was I felt they were trying to one-up each other. And Quasi just didn’t have the right jokes.
Incidentally, when they were prepping to make Quasi, Stolhanske posted on his social media about it. When I asked if it was going to be Potfest, the teased sequel which has them in Amsterdam, Stolhanske replied, “Not this time.” Earlier this year, they did say they are planning a sequel to Beerfest and hoping to get Potfest made. However, a third Super Troopers is anticipated to be their next movie. I like parts of the second one but felt it should have been made a lot sooner. Part of their issues has been funding and financing.
The troupe met and formed at Colgate University back in the 1980s. Now, they’re in their mid-50s. Believe it or not, but Heffernan also earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and passed the bar exams in both New York and Conneticut. They’ve all worked on other projects and Stolhanske mentioned he and his wife just adopted two girls they were fostering. All that catches up with you after a while, so after the letdown of Quasi, will people really be waiting for a sequel to Beerfest as well as Potfest when the troupe are in their 60s.
I know age is just a number but I think what made Beerfest so good is it was one of those odd movies, like Idiocracy, that went somewhat unnoticed in the 2000s but found its audience and legacy on the home video and cable TV market. It’s a great comedy to watch even if you’re a teetotaler.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 