Beerfest

Director: Jay Chandrasekhar

Starring: M.C. Gainey, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske

From the comedy quintet Broken Lizard (the group previously behind the hilarious cult hit Super Troopers and horror-in-paradise flik Club Dread) comes a story of family honour, international relations and more beer than the Grolsch, Budweiser and Foster’s breweries combined. The greatest celebration of alcohol on earth – Oktoberfest? Please. The real drinking gets done at the underground Olympics of beer: Beerfest.

We begin with our two central heroes, Jan and Todd Wolfhouse, travelling to Germany in order to honour their grandfather’s memory by delivering his homeland. Once there, they are introduced to a world that exists for most only in their dreams, only to have it taken away by their grudge-bearing, beer guzzling German cousins. Following their humiliation the pair vow to return in a year to regain their family’s honour, assembling a group of the greatest drinkers in America to aid them in their plight. But even that might not be enough…

Beerfest, of course, does exactly what you might think – it’s a full-on celebration of beer and everything beer-related. But, with chemistry between the characters that surely stems from close off-camera friendships, it’s no wonder it’s hard not to get sucked into the absurd fun. The Broken Lizard troupe have already made a name for themselves in Hollywood with their blend of slapstick, gross-out and plain damn funny one-liners, and rarely does the humour fail to deliver. Heroes are made; some tears fall; some crimes against nature get created; all in all, I can guarantee there will be something in this movie that you don’t expect.

So we find ourselves cheering on this motley crew of college friends who are brought together once more by Fate. The prospect of endless tankards of beer is not the (sole) driving force for their actions. It’s that unspeakable bond that can only come from downing a few pints with the lads.

Rhodri Renno