Last Saturday cords, tims and I had the good fortune to attend the Chicago premier of Tucker Max’s film, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Surprised that I said, “good fortune to attend”? Well, so am I.
I went into this movie with extremely low expectations. I don’t drink and I’m not a womanizer. Conversely, a substantial part of Tucker Max’s work involves drinking and womanizing. I’m not offended by those things, but I just don’t relate. I guess you could say I’m not in Tucker’s target audience.
This is the part of the review where I am supposed to say I was pleasantly surprised, but I won’t do that. I won’t do that because I was not pleasantly surprised -- I was blown the fuck away.
This movie inspired actual laughter in me. Not a little grunt you sort of exhale in amusement. Not a chuckle that lasts for a few dying syllables. This movie inspired real, sustained laughter at least 20 or 30 times.
After the premier, I spent a few days trying to put a review together that would do this film justice. How should I describe the plot, the characters, etc? After some thought, I decided not to try. I don’t want anyone to read my review and assume they aren’t in the target audience.
I was wrong. This movie isn’t for people who can relate to drinking and womanizing. This movie is for people who like to laugh. The plot, the characters and the subject matter are just the vehicles used for delivering the humor.
If you are still inclined to get familiar with the plot and the characters before seeing the movie, here are the trailers:
Personally, neither of the trailers did much for me. The trailers didn’t use any of the movie’s best jokes. And, the jokes they did use don’t pack the same punch when lifted out of the context of the movie.
I will mention that the movie has some cool cameos. As an MMA fan, I was happy to see Forrest Griffin and Mac Danzig (even though he is a dirty vegan). It should be noted that since filming these cameos, Forrest and Mac are a combined 0-5. I don’t want to start any conspiracy theories, but this is clearly Tucker’s fault.
In short: go see this film. It does not disappoint. The film opens September 25th.
