About.com Rating



Many fans of comedy may recognize Artie Lange from his days on the FOX sketch comedy MAD TV, or as a supporting actor in movies like Dirty Work with Norm MacDonald. Most people probably know him as the sidekick on Howard Stern's daily radio show on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio. But in 2006, Lange tried to branch out by writing himself a leading man role in the movie that nearly killed him: Beer League.


The Slobs vs. the Snobs

In Beer League (retitled Artie Lange's Beer League to capitalize on the comedian's success on The Howard Stern Show), Lange, who co-wrote the film with former Saturday Night Live writer Frank Sebastiano (also the film's director), stars as Artie (who else?), a thirty-something that lives at home, gets drunk and whose only real joy in life is playing on his softball league. When his team is threatened with being kicked out of the league, Artie and his friends (including Ralph Macchio and Joe Lo Truglio of The State) finally get motivated to shape up and go for the league championship.

A Labor of Love

The plot is the oldest of cliches - the "snobs versus the slobs" sports comedy - and a lot of the humor comes from a pretty lowbrow place, but Beer League is not without its charms. Maybe it's because -- as a fan of the Stern show -- I got to hear so much about the production, or because I know that trying to do the show, the movie and a heroin addiction almost killed Lange, but I like Beer League.

Ultimately, I think it's because the film is an obvious labor of love; the movie itself is as much of an underdog story as the plot contained within it. Not every joke works, but enough of them do. I'll take Beer League over a lot of the major studio comedies that make their way into theaters these days.

The DVD for Beer League features an audio commentary track by writers Lange and Sebastiano. Lange sounds sleepy (he may have still been in the throes of his well-documented heroin addiction, which might have also made a good title for the movie: Artie Lange's Throes of Addiction), but -- just like he is on the Stern show -- is really quick and funny and is often funnier on the commentary than he is in the movie. If nothing else, it gives fans of the comedian -- who really are the only audience for this movie -- more of a good thing.

DVD Details

• Release Date: January 2, 2007
• Running Time: 87 minutes
• 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (English)
• Spanish Subtitles
• Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

DVD Bonus Features

• Unrated Commentary with Artie Lange and Frank Sebastiano
• "Beer Goggles" Short
• Unrated Trailer
• Behind the Scenes Featurette
• Live from CineVegas Featurette
• Artie Behind the Scenes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Best Damn Sports Show
• In the Studio with Artie: Jokes and Ringtones
• Raw Interviews
• Photo Gallery