Beer League

Artie Lange is an acquired taste. That is, if you know who he is. Not a marquee name, though definitely a recognizable face, Lange, like Adam Sandler, is the kind of comedian you either love or hate: loud, profane, and politically incorrect. Lange is basically John Belushi reincarnated (it helps that Lange looks enough like Belushi that he could play him in a bio pic). I've been a huge fan of Artie Lange's since the beginning of his career so the critique that follows should be considered pretty biased.

In BEER LEAGUE, Lange plays Artie (what a surprise), a 35-year-old alcohol-loving slacker/loser without a job who still lives with his mother (Laurie Metcalf). His life consists of little else besides attending bars, eating, and playing softball with his buddies. After getting in a fight with the championship team, it is decided by the local police that only one of the teams will be able to remain in the league at the end of the season. What follows is a series of scenes involving non-stop cursing, alcohol consumption, and some softball playing in between.

It goes without saying that BEER LEAGUE doesn't have the strongest plot in the world, which helps get as much nudity, crude jokes, and general tastelessness as one could want from the genre. A good 85% of the jokes succeed. However, there are times when the lack of story really does hurt the film. While never coming across as a one-joke, "Saturday Night Live" (or in Lange's case, "MAD TV") sketch kind of movie, Lange and co-writer/director Frank Sebastiano occasionally seem to find themselves in a trap as to what exactly to do with the picture to move it along plot wise. There's a sub-plot involving Artie's love-interest Linda (the very cute Cara Buono, giving the best performance of anyone in the cast) that gives the raunch-fest an unexpected heart, though despite their chemistry, her character and their relationship is never developed strongly enough for me to give it a higher rating. That said, the romance angle works a lot better here than it did in recent R-rated comedies like WEDDING CRASHERS and 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, where it seemed to take the focus away from the main proceedings and in VIRGIN's case, felt extraordinarily fake. BEER LEAGUE is better than both the aforementioned comedies and certainly has more laughs than both combined, but if you aren't a fan of Lange, chances are you'll find yourself disagreeing. For the 18-29 male demographic BEER LEAGUE makes for a great guy flick. 7/10

It's no Gone with the Wind, but I seriously hardly stopped laughing the entire movie!!! Artie is hilarious, and even the Karate Kid turns in an amusing performance. The best comedy I've seen this year. More genuinely funny moments than Talledaga Nights and Click combined!!! The old dude Seymore Cassel steals nearly every scene he's in and is hilarious. Artie really kills playing a character very similar to himself. No need to be a Stern fan to see this movie. Artie steps out of the shadow of the big guy with an incredibly funny and sincere performance. If you want to laugh you butt off this is the movie to see!!!

I'm a huge Howard Stern fan, and I've been excited to see this movie since I first heard Artie talking about it on the Stern show. I was not expecting much out of this movie - just a stupid movie with some good laughs. But this film fell far short of my already very low expectations. There were plot lines within plot lines within plot lines - each one slowing down any kind of flow the movie tried to catch. When the softball part started to get somewhat interesting, the love story would bog it down. Artie tried to do a John Candy and be the farcical yet believable character - but he just did a bunch of Artie-shtick. He really was not able to carry this movie. It was kind of a fun movie, but even the fun scenes such as the bachelor party felt like a drag - clumsily staged and just awkward. Ralph Maccio rocked. Hopefully he will get in more movies from doing this one. The enemy antagonist was good at his role, but it was just too unbelievable. This guy has the best softball team, owns the best gym, AND is running for mayor? All of these different plot lines began to give me a headache and made me look at my watch waiting for the end. There are some good laughs, but we get mostly one liners here. In fairness, I should add that my friend who saw it with me has never listened to the Stern show and liked the movie a lot better than I did. This is a good TV movie or Netflix movie, but I wouldn't recommend seeing it in the theaters.

Artie is a terrible actor but this is definitely his best acting ever. Probably because it's basically just a documentary. It's what his life would be if he hadn't gotten into show business. There's some great editing mistakes in the diner scene. A french fry appears on the window sill then disappears and reappears. The the girl throws them. Good stuff.

It's amazing when people get on a website and rip a movie like "Beer League" as if they were expecting "Citizen Kane" when they went to the movies. Beer League involves the heated rivalry between two men's softball teams in New Jersey; Ed's Beer and Swill (featuring Artie Lange, Ralph Macchio and assorted others) and Manganelli Fitness, a four time league champion. After yet another collective trip to the police station following a brawl, it is decided the team with the worst record between the two at season's end will be thrown out of the league. Lange & Company band together and show resolve to reach the title game vs. Manganelli. Guess who wins?

I thought the movie was funny- even hilarious in spots. Beer League never tries to be anything other than what it is; a bawdy comedy with plenty of crude humor, sexual misconduct and vulgarity. Little was required in the acting department, as Lange is essentially playing himself. Fans of his stand-up act and Howard Stern appearances will not be disappointed. There are welcome cameos by Sopranos bit player Frank Pellegrino and series regular Joseph Gannascoli. And Seymour Cassel turns in a great performance as the team's old, foul-mouthed pitcher, Dirt.

Lange's real life drug and alcohol use- parodied and boasted about in nearly everything he does- will hopefully not have tragic consequences as it has for so many others in the world of comedy. This movie works, however, and is good for a few belly laughs along the way.