Beerfest (2006)

Two brothers travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, only to stumble upon a secret, centuries-old competition described as a "Fight Club" with beer games.

Director:

Jay Chandrasekhar

Writers:

Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan,

Stars:

Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
M.C. Gainey	...	Priest
Paul Soter	...	Jan Wolfhouse
Erik Stolhanske	...	Todd Wolfhouse / Young Baron Ludwig
Cloris Leachman	...	Great Gam Gam
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen (as Juergen Prochnow)
Cameron Scher	...	Helmut
Owain Yeoman	...	Aussie Sailor #1
Tom Tate	...	Aussie Sailor #2
Allan Graf	...	Soup Waiter
Chris Moss	...	German Producer
Bjorn Johnson	...	Mr. Schniedelwichsen (as Bjørn Johnson)
Kevin Heffernan	...	Landfill / Gil / Sausage Lady
Jay Chandrasekhar	...	Barry / Blind Sikh
Steve Lemme	...	Fink / Emcee
Collin Thornton	...	Little Boy

Storyline

After the death of their grandfather Johann von Wolfhause, the brothers Jan and Todd Wolfhouse travel to Munich to fulfill a family tradition, spreading the ashes of Johann during the Oktoberfest. Their contact brings them to a secret beer competition, the Beerfest", where they are offended by Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen and the German branch of their family that accuse their great-grandmother of being a prostitute and their grandfather of stealing an old recipe of the best beer in Germany. Jan and Todd returns to USA humiliated and decide to organize a beer team to dispute the next Beerfest. They join Landfill, Barry and Fink and train long the year to participate in the competition. When they find the lost recipe hidden in a dummy, they feel that their German relatives told the truth. But the team is ready for the tough dispute.

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Plot Keywords:

beer | competition | oktoberfest | germany | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

Brewed in 2006

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English German

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le Festi-Bière

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque Press Club - 201 Highland Park Circle SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,031,228 (USA) (25 August 2006)

Gross:

$19,179,969 (USA) (27 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Gerber Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jürgen Prochnow makes a comment about how he "had a bad experience in one of these before" when in the submarine. This is a reference to Das Boot (1981), in which Prochnow starred as The Captain.

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Goofs

When the cuckoo clock is smashed onto the floor, you can see that it has no internal workings. Moments earlier, chimes sounded and a little maid came out.

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Quotes

Barry Badrinath: It's $10 for a BJ, $12 for an HJ, $15 for a ZJ...
Landfill: [Interrupting] What's a ZJ?
Barry Badrinath: If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
Steve "Fink" Finklestein: [Trying to persuade Landfill] I've got $4.

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Crazy Credits

Gag Reel is shown

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Connections

Spoofs Cabaret (1972)

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Soundtracks

Have a Drink on Me
Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson
Performed by AC/DC
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

User Reviews

Lovable silliness

From the first few minutes on "Beerfest" heads straight into debauchery without making any excuses for it. However, this movie is closer to classic National Lampoon movies such as "Animal House" or "European Vacation" than to the vulgar sex-comedies that have been so popular ever since "American Pie". Make no mistake, "Beerfest" is full of nudity, dick jokes and all kinds of deliberate lowbrow humor. The difference to aforementioned sex-comedies is that "Beerfest"'s stupidity is much more self-aware and also aimed at an audience that understands this and can laugh about it from one step away. Or to make it sound less pretentious: this comedy has a lot of heart. When Germans are merely primitive giants in this movie it's clear that this is a comedic stereotype that must not be taken seriously by any means. The Germans and the depiction of German traditions is really the highlight of this movie.

Like Broken Lizard's previous theatrical adventure "State Troopers" this one is mindless, silly fun with a great cast, but all in all "Beerfest" is the better movie. Not a classic, but very enjoyable.