Beer League Movie Review

If you're unfamiliar with Artie Lange, he's part of Howard Stern's gang of cronies, the guys who write his jokes and make wisecracks from the peanut gallery. That qualifies you to write, produce, and star in a movie that is, let's face it, basically about yourself: a self-proclaimed fat, "funny" guy named Artie who lives at home, has no job, and plays softball mostly while drunk.

Beer League is a loose collection of threads of plot surrounding Artie: His baseball team is so rowdy they are threatened with expulsion from the league unless they can beat their arch-rivals. He's got girl trouble with "used goods" Linda (the impossibly gorgeous Cara Buono). And he's throwing a bachelor party, which is bound to get him into trouble.

Lange's Artie is a profane loser who's never afraid to make fun of himself, and that helps. Beer League is at its funniest when Lange is the butt of the jokes, not so much when he's trying to play the hero. But following the film ends up being a lot like listening to one of Stern's radio broadcast. It's just a whole lot of lewd potty humor that doesn't really add up to anything substantial, a guilty pleasure of sorts when taken in small bursts, but which grows somewhat tiresome in the long run.

Buono's underrated sense of brash comedy (check her out in Kicking and Screaming) lends a softer touch to the film, and when she's on screen the movie is much improved. Unfortunately we are reminded in the end that this is a movie by Artie Lange (by way of TV writer Frank Sebastiano, who directed) about Artie Lange. Do you like Artie Lange? And I mean, a lot? Have I got a DVD for you.

The DVD includes a second disc of extras, with commentary track, and umpteen behind the scenes featurettes.