Beerfest
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Mindless and crude comedy about two brothers (Erik Stolhanske and Paul Soter) who, together with some beer-guzzling friends (Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme and Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directs) travel to Germany to compete in an underground beer-drinking Olympics against a German team consisting of a rival branch of their family. The title says it all, as the insufferably adolescent plot is just a pole for the foulmouthed frat-house humor which is vulgar, unfunny and irresponsible. Pervasive crass and sexual humor, lewd sight gags and innuendo, much reckless drinking, a couple of racy sex scenes with partial nudity, as well as some unrelated partial nudity, comic violence, some irreverent humor, a suicide, drug content, excessive rough and crude language and some profanity. O -- morally offensive. (R) 2006
The number of brain cells destroyed by the characters in "Beerfest" (Warner Bros.) is only surpassed by the number of brain cells wasted on watching it.
Mindless and crude, the "plot" involves American brothers Todd and Jan Wolfhouse (Erik Stolhanske and Paul Soter), who, together with beer-guzzling friends Phil, Charlie and Barry (Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme and Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directs) travel to Germany to compete in an underground beer-drinking Olympics -- and redeem their grandmother's (Cloris Leachman in an embarrassing turn) reputation -- against a German team consisting of a rival branch of their family.
Sitting through it was like wearing burlap lederhosen.
One can only scratch one's head as to why Academy Award-winning Leachman -- along with respectable actors Juergen Prochnow and Donald Sutherland, who have cameos -- didn't say "nein."
The level of comedic writing makes the "Cheech & Chong" movies seem like Moliere by comparison. But the insufferably adolescent premise is just a pole for the foulmouthed frat-house humor which is as irresponsible as it is vulgar and unfunny. The film opens with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer counseling against attempting the drinking stunts at home, warning viewers, "You Will Die."
That's not a laughing matter.
An epilogue suggests a sequel -- "Potfest"-- may be in the works. Heaven help us!
The film contains pervasive crass and sexual humor, lewd sight gags and innuendo, much reckless drinking, a couple of racy sex scenes with partial nudity, as well as some unrelated partial nudity, comic violence, some irreverent humor, a suicide, drug content, excessive rough and crude language and some profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.