'Beer' not worth chugging

After watching the likes of "Club Dread" and now "Beerfest," I'm beginning to wonder if the guys in Broken Lizard were nothing more than a one-trick pony thanks to "Super Troopers."\nAfter the death of their grandfather, the Wolfhouse brothers Jan and Todd (Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske respectively) head to glorious Munich to scatter his ashes in his homeland in the midst of the almighty Oktoberfest. Plenty of beer is consumed and a riot breaks out forcing the brothers into the German streets before one of their grandfather's old buddies whisks them off to the appropriately titled "Beerfest" -- the Olympics of beer-drinking competitions. The Germans smash all competition then smash the Wolfhouses' pride by saying their grandfather was nothing more than a thieving bastard while grandma was just a village whore. \nBack in America, Jan and Todd decide they need to train for Beerfest so that next year they can go and reclaim their family's honor. Without a proper team of five members, they have no choice but to recruit their old college pals: Landfill (Kevin Heffernan), Fink (Steve Lemme) and Barry (Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directs the film). What follows is beer consumption of epic proportions and, well, not much else. \n"Beerfest" relies on its title to do most of the talking and fulfill expectations. You get to watch a bunch of guys who still wish they were at frat parties drink beer in every fashion imaginable: quarters, pong, keg-stands, right down to slashing open a can with their car keys and going for the gold. Other than that, watching the film is about as rewarding as throwing back a 12-pack of Natty Ice and actually expecting to get drunk off it.\nIn the arena of summer comedies, "Beerfest" cannot compare to the absurd hilarity of "Talladega Nights," the tongue-in-cheek amusement of "Clerks II" or even the fantastic "Little Miss Sunshine." It relies too much on the "hur-hur" stupidity of watching people get wasted and vomiting everywhere all the while running far too long, making 110 minutes feel like three hours. \nWhile "Beerfest" is in no way a horrible film and does have some golden Broken Lizard moments (see beer-goggled Barry as an example), by the end it feels too frothy and unfulfilling. It's that first drink of the night before hitting all the bars that you won't even remember in a matter of hours.