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It's been a long time since a movie has riled up so many people before even opening in theaters. And yet that's exactly what's been going on with I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Based on the salacious memoir by Tucker Max, the film has been met by protests in North Carolina, had advertisements yanked from buses in Chicago and generally been nebulously associated with "promoting rape culture" by numerous blogs and publications. Tomorrow, Angelenos will be able to see what all the fuss is about as Beer in Hell lands in theaters. My take: it's a fucking comedy, people. Comedies are supposed to make you laugh. It does!
To those who would reflexively respond, "I wouldn't see anything involving that fucking douche, Tucker Max", understand that the film is a considerably more genteel rendering of Max's misadventures than the stories in his book and blog. Granted, there's still plenty of coarse, vile, degrading, smelly and cruel humor (plus alcohol abuse plus nudity), but the overall tone is far more rascal than rapist. That's mostly thanks to the genuinely sunny demeanor of Max avatar, Matt Czuchry, the leavening of the script by Max and Nils Parker with a (somewhat unwelcome) pinch of heart and the crisp, clean direction of indie veteran Bob Gosse.
The premise of the film is as straightforward as it gets: bachelor party goes horribly wrong. Where Beer in Hell distinguishes itself, though, is in the egregiously foul ways in which things go sideways. Here's a general gloss for the film: figure out where the line is drawn, then approach that line, then run so far past that line that you can no longer see it, then come back and vomit on the line. So instead of getting the obligatory "guy gets violently ill and needs to take a shit but can't" scenario, we get something more reminiscent of the Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin. Is it puerile? Yes. Low and broad? Sure. But funny? Yes!
While Czuchry gives us a brighter, more likable Max, Jesse Bradford steals the movie as the film's realmless heart of darkness. Those critics who've found a misogynistic tone in the film constantly refer to many of Bradford's lines as proof of their belief. What they're missing, though, is the pitch-black comic tenor of Bradford's performance. It's interesting that cruelty in a dramatic film is instantly forgiven, while in a comedy it's seen as indicative of some larger purpose or intent. Which is absurd. Sure, Bradford's Drew is a dick, but he's a funny dick who meets his worst imagined fate -- he finds happiness with a -- gasp -- woman.
Many -- probably most -- critics will dismiss I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell as frat-boy tripe. And you know what -- they may be right. This isn't Sophie's Choice. This is a vulgar comedy that pushes the boundaries of what's considered appropriate comedic material. Where a film like The Hangover tells a similarly raw story about a bachelor party gone off the rails, there's never any sense that things may not turn out okay. In Beer in Hell, though, that's almost the point. It dares you to laugh. It dares you not to like it. It offers up terrible examples of human behavior and says awful things about people in sharp, cutting words. But...it's funny.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell opens tomorrow.
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Any updates on the ongoing litigation between Tucker Max and your sister-blog-by-the-same-publisher, Bostonist?
Movies promote all types of horrendous behaviors and ways of life... the sheeple of course simply deem it as fiction and "oh, it's just a movie. It's comedy! relax!"
Fools!
This type of trash is desensitizing the masses to be more accepting of those type of behaviors... of how being ignorant and stupid is cool.. of how raping someone is acceptable.. it's all for fun they say... sure, keep eating that up! This entire society is so sick and controlled... just wait till' the shit hits the fan...
Josh, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this review, you did a wonderful job.
I won't see this movie, however, but that's beside the point.
@Joshiedoozie
Nope. Wrong. Give people more credit to think for themselves. And intelligent, well-adjusted people don't use the word "sheeple". Only sheeple do.
Rape jokes are never *EVER* funny.
1 in 66 women will be raped in their lifetime, you are laughing at them. A sexual assault occurs ever 2 minutes in this country - that means since you posed this story, more than 130 people, mostly women, have been sexually assaulted.
Mostly what I think about the "it's just comedy" defense of this offensive material is that sexual assault victims - women you know personally - have to re-live their experience every time someone makes a joke about it. Why you you want to be the douche that does that to them?
Rape jokes are never EVER funny.
1 in 66 women will be raped in their lifetime, you are laughing at them. A sexual assault occurs every 2 minutes in this country - that means since you posed this story, more than 130 people, mostly women, have been sexually assaulted.
Mostly what I think about the "it's just comedy" defense of this offensive material is that sexual assault victims - women you know personally - have to re-live their experience every time someone makes a joke about it. Why you you want to be the douche that does that to them?
And it took so long for this comment to be approved, another nearly 200 victims of sexual violence.
Just something to think about... especially when only 6% of sexual offenders actually see the inside of a prison.
@csharp7
The movie is not about rape. There is no suggestion of rape in it. I reviewed the movie and nothing else. The movie is funny.
I'm sorry - did you not see the advertising that was removed from the buses in Chicago? It said things like "Deaf girls can't hear you coming." The implication is that if they can't hear you coming, you are perfectly justified in raping them (The double-entendre makes it pretty clear that it's about sex, but it's just as ableist and offensive if it's just about violence.)
I saw the film. I reviewed the film. The advertising is immaterial to me. The source material is immaterial to me. Tucker Max is immaterial to me. I saw the film. I reviewed the film.
So what you're saying is that the advertising misrepresents the film?
I have a real problem with films that stage sex with a drunk woman as totally consentual (see also, "Observe and Report") because more often than not the female character is in fact depicted as too drunk to legally consent to sex, but the filmmakers play it off that she is. Not all drunken sexual encounters are rape, but many are and films that say otherwise contribute to the culture of rape acceptance.
No one who recognizes and decries date/acquaintance rape when they see it is going to be convinced that it's all okay because they see a movie. But people who think that the only 'real' rape is what happens in a dark alley when a man attacks a helpless sober woman who is dressed modestly are going to have that view legitimized by films like this. That is what's really dangerous.
that's right, they glossed over all the rape-y parts of dude's story, and they did it in a funny way, so that makes it all ok. go movies!
"Deaf girls can't hear you coming." The implication is that if they can't hear you coming, you are perfectly justified in raping them (The double-entendre makes it pretty clear that it's about sex, but it's just as ableist and offensive if it's just about violence.)"
While this movie seems like absolute trash and I agree with the immorality and under-prosecution of rape, you also sound crazy. When I say, "I just missed the bus, I didn't even hear it coming!" I mean I am surprised by the bus, not that the bus sexually assaulted me, and I definitely do not think I enabled the bus.
"The double-entendre makes it pretty clear that it's about sex."
Actually, the point of a sexual "double-entendre" is that one meaning is completely innocent, and the other is a sexual comment, in this case quite literally that someone deaf cannot hear your orgasm. It does not say "a deaf person cannot hear your orgasm because they are deaf, they can't hear it because they are being raped." Remember, a deaf person would definitely be able to feel you coming, and they can do that in NORMAL, CONSENSUAL sex.
Also, your extremism makes it quite obvious you have no idea how horrible and distinct rape really is to those who have experienced it. It is NOT easily confused with lame humor, which is what it really is.
I too saw the movie at the LA stop of his premier too and it was a very good movie. There's no rape of any kind and the women in the movie are really the strongest characters in the movie.
Go see it and decide for yourself.