Beer League

I can conclusively say that this film would never have ended up in the stack if it had cost more than two dollars, and I hadn't just seen Artie Lange completely fry Joe Buck before I bought it. The film acts a vehicle for Lange and, like most comedian projects, how much you like Artie will probably determine how much you enjoy it. I for one do find him pretty funny, and the film is at its best when he's able to go on riffs only tangentially related to the plot. Unfortunately, like most of these comedian centric films, the rest of it is fairly pedestrian and forgettable. Watching it actually gave me a greater appreciation for Adam Corolla's film The Hammer. Like Beer League it was based around the charisma of its star and both of them had very similar stories (washed up former athlete stuck in a go nowhere job who finds redemption through sports and love), but in The Hammer I actually cared about the story and other characters, and in this one I never got past moderate amusement. Still the film moves along a a nice pace for its 87 minutes, and as long as you can put up with 'Nonstop language including strong sexual references, sexuality, Nudity, and Drug Use' (way to go spoiling all the good parts MPAA) there are worse ways to burn some time (even if it is fairly forgettable).

All that said I do have a major issue with the climatic game (spoiler alert, though if you're watching a movie called Beer League for the intricate plotting I don't know what to tell you). So we're in the bottom of the ninth, two outs, and our heroes are down 10-0. Artie proceeds to jack a homerun to make the score 10-1 and then gives a big speech about how they can still win this, blah blah blah. We then get the expected montage scene as the team proceeds to get 8 straight hits, score six runs, and have the bases loaded for Artie. Now remember the score is 10-6, a grand slam just ties the game and they've been using the other team's pitcher (and Artie's nemesis) for batting practice. So Artie pulls a hit to the opposite field and rather than settling for a base clearing stand up triple, the third base coach (played by the immortal Ralph Macchio) waves him home even though throughout the entire film we've been shown that Artie isn't the fleetest of foot and the throw home is going to beat him by a good two feet. Artie tries to bowl the over the pitcher covering the plate to knock the ball loose, fails, they lose the game and are kicked out of the league. Here's the part that really kills me - nobody questions the decision to send Artie home, the overwhelming attitude is just 'Good game, we'll play in a different league next year.' Maybe I missed the scene where Macchio gives them all the crane kick to inspire fear, but at the very least shouldn't there have been a few sarcastic comments, if not a punch in the head, directed his way (and Artie's as well)? Its scenes like this that make me question the authenticity of hollywood sometimes.

On another note it was a little weird to watch Lange play an unapologetic, boozing, drug user when its come out that he recently tried to kill himself (again) and has a history of (significant) substance abuse. Not necessarily disturbing, just odd. I'm sure there's something of significance that I could say, but I doubt it.