The Slammin' Salmon (2009)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The waiters and waitresses of 'the Slammin' Salmon', one of Miami's most popular seafood restaurants can't seem to get a break. Not only do they make a mere low hourly wage, but now, their boss, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, 'Slammin' Cleon Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan), own money to a Japanese Yakuza, and must paid the amount, in one night business or else, the restaurant will have to close. Will, the manager, Rich (Kevin Heffernan) & his crew, including the likes of: Nuts (Jay Chandresekhar), a heavily medicated man, Conner (Steve Lemme) former actor, Donnie Kinogie (Paul Soter), busboy turned waiter, Guy Metdrapedes (Eric Stolhanske), arrogant pretty-boy, Tara (Cobie Smulders), med student; and Mia (April Bowlby), ballet/beauty queen, be able to pull off, the biggest sale in their little restaurant history? Watch the movie directed by Kevin Heffernan, to find out! Without spoiling the fifth movie from the comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, too much, I found the film to be hilarious, but, not as funny, as their other works such as 2001's 'Super Troopers'. Some of the jokes did fall flat, like the nose-job subplot with Conner, Morgan Fairchild & Dick Lobo (Lance Henriksen). Other jokes, goes nowhere, such as identical twins gimmick with Donnie and Dave (Also played by Paul Soter). Furthermore, jokes like Jay Chandresekhar acting crazy, are, just recycled humor from 2006's 'Beerfest'. None of them, are particularly intelligent or memorable. However, not all the jokes were bad. Michael Clarke Duncan steals the movie, as the champ-boxer restaurant owner. Some of the best moments in the film, involved him, mispronouncing words, and threaten his staff. Who knew, that Duncan had a comedy side to him. Other characters, that I love, was Kevin Hefferman as the lovable, Rich, whom, just trying to survive the night, while, also bypassing, a wedding ring that he accidentally ate. I also, found the cameos from Will Forte, Sendhil Ramamurthy & Jim Gaffigan, equaling as funny. Nevertheless, as much as I love, those characters; the true reason, while I really like this movie is because it cover pretty much all of the stress points about working in that type of an environment, such as dealing with mean-spirited & nitpicky customers, or how there's always that party of one who sits there slowly, taking their time during dinner rush hour. It even show some of the kitchen hijinx, such as coworkers scarfing down extras in the kitchen, or people getting orders, wrong. All of these stuff actually happens in a daily basic! Yet, the movie does completely exaggerates or go over-the top, during certain stuff. Honestly, I really don't see, a waitress being able to serve food, after, third degree burns or another waiter, going around buck naked, without taking his meds. The restaurant would close down, regardless, if they make the money or not, due to violations of many health and safety codes. Also, the idea, that a restaurant would rehired a worker, after, he storm out and make a huge mess with coleslaw, seem, very not-liking to happen in real-life. Talking about unrealistic terms, the rush relationship between Tara and Donnie was also jarring. It's weird that, one day of work, would make them, into a couple. Plus, treating female characters like Tara as a prize for males, because they did good work, doesn't sound right. Another thing, I did feel the movie could work, better, if it was a little more grounded in its pacing as well. There were a little, too much, flashbacks, that wasn't really needed, such as Rich's prologue & wedding scene, which really doesn't do anything to move the main plot. The film should had, more of a one-day coverage approach, similar to other restaurant comedies such as 2005's 'Waiting' & 2006's 'Clerks II' with its timeline. Another thing, the movie could had done, is work on the editing, a little more. There was a lot of continuity problems, throughout the film. It was pretty jarring, how fast, the restaurant filled up or seeing characters, pick up same items, multiply times, during a few shots. The last thing, the movie could had done, is feature, more scenes with the other members of the staff, such as the cooks, and hostess. I felt, like those characters, was a bit, underwhelmed, as a lot of humor, could had come with them. Overall: Despite the childish amount of endless string of low brow, vulgar, profanity-filled insult-dialogues and some pointless outlandish slap-sticky scenes. This movie is not that bad. It was funny, for the most part. Just wish, it depict more of real-life workplace atmosphere than it did. Still, I highly recommended watching for anybody, hungry for a comedy. It's worth the time, digesting.

Brutal former heavyweight boxing champion Cleon "Slammin'" Salmon, now owner of a Miami restaurant, institutes a competition to see which waiter can earn the most money in one night. The winner stands to gain $10,000, while the loser will endure a beating at the hands of the champ.The concept of the film is pretty funny, The titular character loses a bet and he owes 20,000 yen, or something there about, so the staff on shift enter a pseudo competition. If they get the biggest tab, they win.If the audience were to be let in on the punchline a little earlier, this could have been an amusing film, but instead, we get an endless array of sketches involving the odd staff, and the abhorrent patrons whom frequent the restaurant.There must have been some pretty hard cuts in the film, because we are never explained as to why Heffernan became the manager, or what happened to him after he fell down the stairs. Nope, we get the old 'One Year later' text as to avoid Basil Exposition.And this is basically the film. We have a new guy whom gets progressively drunk as the film goes on (highly recommended), a sub plot involving an ingestion of a diamond ring and laxatives, and an old romance trying to be rekindled between two of the staff.Oh, and lets not forget the compulsory oddball who forgets to take his meds on time. I've never known a drug that would wear off literally minutes after forgetting to take it.It's a pretty poor effort from Broken Lizard, Beerfest and Club dread were no classics, but at least they raised a smile or two.But it's worth watching for Michael Clarke Duncan, who puts in a wonderful performance, the only funny thing about the film.

Rich (Kevin Heffernan) always had an tough time standing up to his boss, an former boxer turned restaurant owner Cleon "Slammin'" Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan). His restaurant is named "The Slammin' Salmon". Which Rich is also married to Salmon's sister. One day, Salmon asks Rich if he can make him $20,000 in one night. Because Salmon owns money to the head of Japanese Yukuza. Rich thinks it is impossible solution but his eager staff of waiters (Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Cobie Smulders and April Bowlby) are willing to work their butts off for a prize... It is going to be one long, hard, working, outrageous night at "The Slammin' Salmon".Made by first-time director:Kevin Heffernan does an good job with his directorial debut, he handles comedy well...probably nearly as good as Jay Chandrasekhar. Previously Chandrasekhar directed all the "Broken Lizard" productions. Duncan is fun as the intimidating if slightly inane boss. As the "Broken Lizard" gang:Chandrasekhar, Heffernan, Lemme, Soter (In a two different roles) and Stolhanske are fun to watch as usual. The five lead actors have their moments as well but Smulders and especially Bowlby have some funny moments of their own. The movie does have an few mean-spirited gags but in the end... it is all in good fun.The Canadian Blu-ray has an sharp anamorphic 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. But sadly, there is no special features. Unlike the Anchor Bay Blu-ray has all the special features like two commentary tracks, an featurette and an theatrical trailer. The movie has some amusing cameos like Lance Henriksen, Will Forte, Olivia Munn, Vivica A. Fox and more. Including some cast-members of the previous "Broken Lizard" movies appears in cameos. "The Slammin' Salmon" is the least seen movie from their work along with "Puddle Cruiser". But die-hard fans of the comedic gang will want to see their latest work. Written by Chandrasekhar, Heffernan, Lemme, Soter and Stolhanske. (****/*****).

The Broken Lizard team aren't one for conventional plots, and The Slammin' Salmon - set entirely in a restaurant - is no exception. In fact, almost the entire film takes place over the course of one evening, and most of the dramatic tension centers around waiters competing with one another for a bigger paycheck. It sounds implausible, but they pull it off pretty well, by making great characters, then relying on them to entertain us.If you've seen Super Troopers, Beerfest, or Club Dread, you'll know what to expect. The characters are likable, memorable, and generally well conceived. And just like all their other films, they all could generally have used some more character development. Is it just me, or do Jay Chandrasekhar's characters never get enough screen time?Unfortunately, Slammin' Salmon contains even more slapstick than their past works, and it really brings down the overall tone of the film. We're not watching you for slapstick! We want more awkward tension, more wit, and more character development.They also moved across the jokes too quickly. The writers really set up some very funny situations, and then move on without capitalizing on them. For example, they set up a humorous interracial relationship between Cleon's sister and Rich, but spent literally only a minute on it before moving on and never returning to it. Take the time to develop your jokes! Imagine the potential dialogue there, between Cleon, his sister, and Rich. We'll never know.When it comes down to it, Slammin' Salmon is funny. If you go into the movie wanting to hate it, Michael Clarke Duncan will make you laugh anyway. I just think that we could expect more out of these guys.