Beer League (2006)

Simply Perfect

Just perfect...

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Beer League (2006) *** (out of 4)Artie DeVanzo (Artie Lange) is a thirty-five year old loser who still lives at home with his mother. He doesn't work and the only thing he does is drink and play in a local softball group. His lifelong battle is against Dennis Mangenelli (Anthony DeSando), the good-looking man who has everything including the best softball team. After one failure after another, Artie tries to rally his team into being the best in the league.BEER LEAGUE is a film that is going to appeal to fans of Artie Lange. If you're a fan of his from the Howard Stern show then you'll remember how there was an on-going battle about Lange wanting time off from the show to do this movie. It was meant to be a dream project for Lange and he got the film made but it barely got a release and it turned into a pretty big diappointment at the box office. Over the years it has gained a cult following and rightfully so.There's no question that fans of Lange are going to enjoy this movie. If you're looking for high art or some sort of film with a message then you're certainly not going to find that here. This here is basically NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE set in the softball league and you get various gross bits of comedy and of course it's politically incorrect. For me I thought the film was very funny for what it was but then again I'm a fan of Lange.I think Lange is certainly the best thing about the picture and especially since he plays this loveable loser so well. This is the type of big-hearted loudmouth role that Lange was born to play and he perfectly knows how to write himself. There are a lot of sexist and racist bits of humor but that's exactly what we got out of Lange on the Stern show. Ralph Macchio, Cara Buono, Laurie Mecalf and the various other actors playing the softball buddies are all very good as well.BEER LEAGUE certainly isn't going to win any major awards but for a raunchy comedy it works. What I wanted out of a film like this was laughs and it delivered plenty of them.

Watched/listened to this train wreck on the "Secret Stash" on Comedy Central last night. At this hour, it wasn't too censored and I found it virtually unwatchable. Not since Manos: The Hands of Fate, back in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 days, has Comedy Central fielded such garbage. Would actually rather have seen a 44th rerun of an old "Dave Chapelle Show" than to be subjected to this. Most of the commercials were sustaining (Comedy Central) as I can imagine they would have had a hard time attracting any advertising save for local cable stuff. In my opinion, after "Manos", this is the worst movie Comedy Central has ever shown.Skip it!

Blatantly profane, smarmy attempt at a comedy, dealing with the uber-intense plot of a slovenly softball team trying not to get kicked out of their league. Perhaps if I grew up back east, where apparently close friends engage in non-stop insults of each other, their wives, and even small children. Or more importantly, was still a 14-year-old boy who could delight in laughing through a cupped hand at the hardcore sexual references. Maybe I'd be singing praises from a rooftop somewhere. Instead, I stared embarrassingly at the amateurish mess in front of me.I'm sure the target audience will cherish their dvds, but the limited release is the tell-tale of how unacceptable this is to most crowds. It borders on the same humor that made "Virgin" and "Anchorman" hits, but those films --- though I hated them --- at least limited their vulgarity. This film just purposely goes for the throat in terms of tastelessness and constant four-letter dialogue. It was good to see Macchio again (you could tell he asked that his cuss-words be kept to a minimum), and even Seymour Cassel play against type. But the casual nature of tossed off lines dealing with ejaculation and bj's was utterly desperate. And must we see another implausible romance between a hot slut and a greasy pudge? It's getting old. Did I mention the stripper that can launch ping-pong balls from her vagina? Nuff said.

I'd heard bad things about Beer League, even from the faithful on the Howard Stern show. Sophomoric humor and dumb jokes that Artie should have been ashamed to put on the screen (he's much better than that). Well, I decided to take the plunge. I rented this and another comedy in the same night, and decided to watch this first to get it out of the way. I was pleasantly surprised--it was actually an enjoyable flick! It wasn't wonderful, but then it didn't try to be. It was basically about a bunch of goombaas from northern New Jersey who enjoy playing softball with each other, and the complications that occur when they vie for a championship with a team headed by Artie's arch-nemesis. Throw in a love interest and you've got a clichéd, hackneyed, predictable plot; but at the same time, these guys make it fun to watch. They never take themselves or the movie too seriously. Artie's the funniest, of course, and as his love life develops his character shows himself to be a sweet guy, too. All the characters love softball, but they also love each other, despite all the arguing they do. I agree with another reviewer--the main shortcoming is the direction. It wasn't tight enough--there were many beats that needed to be shorter. But I got used to it (maybe it's cause I'm from Jersey originally). All in all, not a bad way to spend 87 minutes. (One strange thing about the movie--despite the title, there is almost no beer in it!)