Beer League
Encyclopedia
Artie Lange's Beer League is a 2006 film written, produced, and starring Artie Lange
. It was released in selected theaters on September 15, 2006 in the New Jersey
, New York
, Cleveland, and Philadelphia areas. The DVD
was released on January 2, 2007.
), an unemployed, town drunk who is known through the town as a loser. He plays softball with his buddies Maz (Ralph Macchio
), and Johnny (Jimmy Palumbo). They play for Ed's Bar and Swill and their arch-rival is Mangenelli Fitness led by Dennis Mangenelli (Anthony DeSando
). After the teams brawl in the first game of the year, the town's police chief decides whichever team finishes best in the league that season can still play in the league, and whomever loses is out for good.
Artie lives at home with his mother (convincingly played by Laurie Metcalf
), and can never hold a job or a girlfriend for very long. After a night out with his pals, he ends up at a diner for late night food, where he sees old flame Linda Salvo (Cara Buono
) out with her friends. Artie abandons his friends and starts some small talk with Linda, which results in a one night stand. At first Linda is disgusted and annoyed that she let herself fall into another meaningless encounter, but Artie decides to actually try to attempt a more meaningful relationship with her.
The Ed's team, traditionally a league doormat, decides to actually practice in an attempt to beat out Mangenelli and stay in the league. The regular season is highlighted by Maz's bachelor party and wedding, and Johnny's attempt to bat .700 for the year.
The team charges up the standings to qualify for the championship game against the four-time defending champions from Mangenelli Fitness. However, 'Dirt', Ed's Bar and Swill's team pitcher, collapses and dies from a heart attack at practice in the days leading up to the championship. After the funeral, the rest of the team drinks heavily in homage to Dirt before they play in the championship game scheduled for that afternoon.
Mangenelli's team quickly builds a 10-0 lead over their inebriated opponents, and that remains the score heading into the final inning of the game. After two outs, the season rests on Artie's shoulders.
Artie proceeds to launch a Mangenelli pitch over the fence in left field for a solo home run, an incredibly rare feat that nobody in the league has done "since '89". That shot only makes the score 10-1, but Ed's Bar and Swill comes to life and bats around the lineup in the inning, bringing Artie back to the plate, now with the bases loaded and the score 10-6, though still with two outs.
Artie hits the ball to right field, where nobody is stationed because Manganelli has his fielders playing the "DeVanzo Shift"; completely dead-pull. All three baserunners come home, and as the ball is thrown away, Artie races home in an attempt tie the score. He and Mangenelli have a collision at the plate, but Mangenelli hangs on to the ball for the final out and a 10-9 victory.
After the game ends, however, Artie keeps his vow of not letting Mangenelli have the championship trophy, stealing it during the postgame awards ceremony and driving off down Route 3 past Giants Stadium, heading for the Jersey Shore with Linda.
show the film was only released in 164 theaters for 14 days and 2 weeks. Total Lifetime Domestic Grosses of $472,185. Opening Weekend: $302,908.
, giving it a tomatometer rating of 27%. Richard Roeper
gave a positive review saying "Beer League is raunchy and tacky, but it's a hell of a lot funnier than something like Failure To Launch". Another Positive review was from Brian Orndorf of eFilmCritic.com "Beer League is not for tender ears, but more for the beer-bellied, rascally rule breaker in all of us, and most importantly, there's a great chance something in here will make you laugh". Christopher Null
of Filmcritic.com was not so nice saying "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"
Artie Lange
Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
. It was released in selected theaters on September 15, 2006 in the New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Cleveland, and Philadelphia areas. The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released on January 2, 2007.
Plot
Beer League is a comedy about Artie DeVanzo (Artie LangeArtie Lange
Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
), an unemployed, town drunk who is known through the town as a loser. He plays softball with his buddies Maz (Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio
Ralph George Macchio is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his season five recurring role as Jeremy Andretti on the...
), and Johnny (Jimmy Palumbo). They play for Ed's Bar and Swill and their arch-rival is Mangenelli Fitness led by Dennis Mangenelli (Anthony DeSando
Anthony DeSando
Anthony De Sando , also known as Anthony Joseph De Santis, is an American actor. He is of Italian descent, his grandparents were immigrants from the southern Italian regions, they emigrated due to better work opportunities to the United States...
). After the teams brawl in the first game of the year, the town's police chief decides whichever team finishes best in the league that season can still play in the league, and whomever loses is out for good.
Artie lives at home with his mother (convincingly played by Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2...
), and can never hold a job or a girlfriend for very long. After a night out with his pals, he ends up at a diner for late night food, where he sees old flame Linda Salvo (Cara Buono
Cara Buono
Cara Buono is an American actress, screenwriter and director, probably best known for her role as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men.-Early life:...
) out with her friends. Artie abandons his friends and starts some small talk with Linda, which results in a one night stand. At first Linda is disgusted and annoyed that she let herself fall into another meaningless encounter, but Artie decides to actually try to attempt a more meaningful relationship with her.
The Ed's team, traditionally a league doormat, decides to actually practice in an attempt to beat out Mangenelli and stay in the league. The regular season is highlighted by Maz's bachelor party and wedding, and Johnny's attempt to bat .700 for the year.
The team charges up the standings to qualify for the championship game against the four-time defending champions from Mangenelli Fitness. However, 'Dirt', Ed's Bar and Swill's team pitcher, collapses and dies from a heart attack at practice in the days leading up to the championship. After the funeral, the rest of the team drinks heavily in homage to Dirt before they play in the championship game scheduled for that afternoon.
Mangenelli's team quickly builds a 10-0 lead over their inebriated opponents, and that remains the score heading into the final inning of the game. After two outs, the season rests on Artie's shoulders.
Artie proceeds to launch a Mangenelli pitch over the fence in left field for a solo home run, an incredibly rare feat that nobody in the league has done "since '89". That shot only makes the score 10-1, but Ed's Bar and Swill comes to life and bats around the lineup in the inning, bringing Artie back to the plate, now with the bases loaded and the score 10-6, though still with two outs.
Artie hits the ball to right field, where nobody is stationed because Manganelli has his fielders playing the "DeVanzo Shift"; completely dead-pull. All three baserunners come home, and as the ball is thrown away, Artie races home in an attempt tie the score. He and Mangenelli have a collision at the plate, but Mangenelli hangs on to the ball for the final out and a 10-9 victory.
After the game ends, however, Artie keeps his vow of not letting Mangenelli have the championship trophy, stealing it during the postgame awards ceremony and driving off down Route 3 past Giants Stadium, heading for the Jersey Shore with Linda.
Box office
Figures from Box Office MojoBox Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
show the film was only released in 164 theaters for 14 days and 2 weeks. Total Lifetime Domestic Grosses of $472,185. Opening Weekend: $302,908.
Critical reaction
With only having a small release and very few reviews Beer League received 4 fresh reviews out of 11 at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, giving it a tomatometer rating of 27%. Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
gave a positive review saying "Beer League is raunchy and tacky, but it's a hell of a lot funnier than something like Failure To Launch". Another Positive review was from Brian Orndorf of eFilmCritic.com "Beer League is not for tender ears, but more for the beer-bellied, rascally rule breaker in all of us, and most importantly, there's a great chance something in here will make you laugh". Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
of Filmcritic.com was not so nice saying "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"
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Artie Lange Artie Lange Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv.... |
as Artie DeVanzo |
| Ralph Macchio Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his season five recurring role as Jeremy Andretti on the... |
as Maz |
| Anthony DeSando Anthony DeSando Anthony De Sando , also known as Anthony Joseph De Santis, is an American actor. He is of Italian descent, his grandparents were immigrants from the southern Italian regions, they emigrated due to better work opportunities to the United States... |
as Dennis Mangenelli |
| Cara Buono Cara Buono Cara Buono is an American actress, screenwriter and director, probably best known for her role as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men.-Early life:... |
as Linda Salvo |
| Jimmy Palumbo | as Johnny Trinno |
| Joe Lo Truglio Joe Lo Truglio Joseph "Joe" Lo Truglio is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his work as a cast member on the cult MTV sketch comedy series The State... |
as Dave |
| Jerry Minor Jerry Minor Jerry C. Minor is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as Mr. Show, Saturday Night Live, Delocated, Crossballs, Carpoolers and Lucky Louie.... |
as Tim |
| Seymour Cassel Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes... |
as Dirt |
| Michael Deeg | as Alfonse |
| Laurie Metcalf Laurie Metcalf Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2... |
as Artie's Mom |
| Jim Breuer Jim Breuer Jim Breuer is an American stand-up comedian, actor and radio host. He is most noted for his time as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and starring in the 1998 cult "stoner comedy" Half Baked, alongside Dave Chappelle.... |
as Football Guy |
| Maddie Corman Maddie Corman Maddie Corman is an American television and film actress.-Career:Born Madeleine Cornman in New York City, New York, she began her career as a child actress in the 1980s... |
as Marilyn |
| Matthew Gumley Matthew Gumley Matthew David Gumley is a child actor.-Broadway productions: *Elf Original Cast *Addams Family Original Cast... |
as Tommy |
| Tina Fey Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the... |
Gym Secretary |
| Keisha | as "The Pitching Machine" (cameo) |