I love being in a theater where everyone is excited to see the movie. I love the infectious enthusiasm that can come from a room full of like-minded people. That type of environment can greatly enhance the theatrical experience. Case in point — Snakes on a Plane is a great example of a fun time at the multiplex; everyone knew what they were getting into and knew the movie would be a blast.
But - and there is always a but - infectious enthusiasm and idiots in the theater are completely different things. The crowd for the screening of Beerfest that I attended was full of the worst kind of folks. They were just flat out obnoxious, which did not help the film — it just made me sad.
The crowd aside, the movie was mediocre at best. The laughs were either very funny or very lame — there was not much in between. On top of that, the movie was much too long for a goofball comedy about drinking beer to be nearing the two-hour mark. There has to be some filler, or in this case, perhaps a bit of foam.
The story, what there is of it, follows the Wolfhouse brothers, Jan and Todd. Their grandfather (Donald Sutherland) has just passed away, leaving them a German-themed bar and restaurant. Their Great Gam Gam (Cloris Leachman) charges the boys with taking his ashes to Germany to scatter over the traditional lands.
This seemingly simple task leads to a journey into the underworld of beer drinking and a conspiracy that could shake the very foundations of their family. They are led into a top secret drinking competition, where the first rule is "Never talk about Beerfest." Not really, but you aren't likely to be believed if you do. The competition is presided over by Jurgen Prochnow, playing another member of the Wolfhouse clan. This reopens old wounds between the German family and Sutherland, who fled to America with a stolen beer recipe. This leads to the brothers seeking to enter and win the competition.
After they are embarrassed in their initial outing, they are determined to put together a drinking team and practice hard to return the following year and beat the pants off the Germans. They gather up Landfill (Kevin Heffernan), so named because he can put away just about anything, Fink (Steve Lemme), a Jewish scientist who has studied the science of drinking, and Barry (Jay Chandrasekhar), an old friend turned prostitute who is a master of drinking games. They gather in a back room of the restaurant where they drink and drink, and drink some more.
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