The Slammin' Salmon

The latest effort by the comic troupe known as Broken Lizard, "The Slammin' Salmon" is a fitfully amusing comedy set in an upscale seafood restaurant in Miami owned and operated by a flamboyant ex-boxer known as - what else? - The Slammin' Salmon (delightfully played by Michael Clarke Duncan). To pay off a gambling debt, the boss sets up a competition among his staff of waiters and waitresses to see who can bring in the most money in a 24-hour period. Chaos and mayhem ensue.

As directed by Kevin Heffernan (who also appears, alongside his fellow Broken Lizard writers and actors, as one of the waiters), "The Slammin' Salmon" is not the most sophisticated or highbrow comedy you'll ever see, but its breezy style and high-energy performances go a long way towards making something uniquely unhinged and genuinely fun out of the material. Despite all the crazy antics, the movie never has to strain too hard to get its laughs, and even when the jokes clatter to the floor - as they are wont to do from time to time - the cast is always there to pick up the pieces and run with them.

A few well-known faces - Will Forte, Vivica A. Fox and Morgan Fairchild - also stop by to add to the laughs.

While people are going to INSTANTLY compare this to Super Troopers on how it doesn't reach that standard (easily the funniest and most quotable movie of their repertoire) and while it is slow in the beginning, the movie easily has you laughing with the absurdness. Each character is flushed out well enough for the movie's purposes, and each gives you the right laughs at the right moments. Quotable, outlandish, and insane. A mix of Waiting meets Glengarry Glenross meets...well...Super Troopers. However, if this STILL hasn't won you over, there is one sole reason to see this movie:

Michael F***in' Clarke Duncan.

HOLY hell did he have fun with this script. His character of the Champ has the BEST lines of the whole movie, and I almost wonder how much was scripted and how much is just him going off the chain. Best lines of the movie:

(while admiring his sister's triplets) "Look at the little babies! Hey, it's Uncle Cleon. Damn, they all look the same. What did you do, f**k a Xerox machine?"

(to Japanese translator) "How do you say 'motherf***er' in Spanish?"

and my personal favorite— "You know what ten grand feels like in your pocket? It feels like a third c*ck."

Seriously, get some beers, grab some friends, and watch this movie. It's good times.

I really want to like Broken Lizard's movies, Super Troopers is one of the best comedies I have ever seen, but none of their subsequent movies even comes close to matching it. In The Slammin' Salmon the waitstaff of a high end seafood restaurant compete against each other to win $10,000 for selling the most food in one night. The eccentric former heavyweight boxer turned restaurant owner (Michael Clark Duncan) is amusing throughout the movie, as are the waitstaff themselves, but only for the last 40 min or so of the film. The big problem with The Slammin' Salmon is that it takes too long to really get going. Its not until the waitstaff finally get fired up about the contest and start sabotaging each other the film becomes truly funny. It's not a bad movie, and it is pretty funny at times, but it really could have been so much better.

I'll admit that I'm a huge Broken Lizard fan, I have seen all of their films and even have an appreciation for the relatively unfunny Club Dread. For me, this is just a fun-loving group of comedians that love to make their audience laugh, or at least try their damnedest. I had the pleasure of attending the Canadian premiere of the "Slammin' Salmon" in Montreal recently and the Broken Lizard troupe was there to meet and greet the fans and answer questions after the movie. They are true class acts and friendly guys. While I won't give away any specific jokes I will say that from a fan's perspective, this is their second funniest film, with Supertroopers of course being the cult favourite. So yes, it is an improvement on Beerfest; the Slammin' Salmon is just straight up funnier. As for regular movie-goers and comedy fans, I highly recommend this film. It was produced with a low budget during the writers' strike, so without a big studio production, it has the fast pacing of a stage show. The focus in this movie is on the JOKES... which is something refreshing to see in a comedy; less emphasis on character development and a complex plot, but more emphasis on keeping the audience consistently laughing. The humour is low brow at times, but is also clever and well-timed, there are many quick one-liners so pay sharp attention to this fast paced comedy, enjoy!

If you're a fan of Broken Lizard (Super Troopers and Beerfest) then you will absolutely love this movie. I am one of those fans and must say that not only do the 5 members of Broken Lizard impress as always, but the other additions of Cobbie Smulder, April Bowlby and of course Michael Clark Duncan are fantastic.

The Slammin' Salmon is a restaurant owned by a former boxer (MCD) where the the wait staff leader (Farva - Heffernan) is told that if they don't make 20k, the restaurant will close. He decides to offer a prize for the top server and the competition begins.

This movie works because it clicks on many levels. It has humor that's cheesy, dirty and clever mixed in with one liners. The contrast of Jay's craziness, MCD's anger and Cobbie's innocence meshes so well it would be hard for any person who likes to laugh to hate this movie.

I would recommend this movie to everyone except for those taking their girlfriends to a romcom.