Beer League Review
By David Kempler
Play Ball! But not well.
It's stupid. It's not based in any sort of reality. The plot is both weak and without a real purpose. The acting of the cast ranges anywhere from abysmal to okay. The production values have almost no value. The writing has a few funny lines mixed in between dialog one might expect from someone who doesn't have a firm grasp on the English language. On paper "Beer League" is a total zero and I can't imagine reading the script and thinking there was any reason to commit it to film. You probably already know where I'm going here but for those of you that don't, I kind of enjoyed it.
Artie Lange is the star and he is also responsible for the script. Lange is a veteran of for the most part bad movies that are supposed to be funny. He is currently a member of the Howard Stern Show on satellite radio and there he is a very funny man. He is also a real human being who seems to genuinely care about people. Maybe it's because of this that I can look past all the minuses of "Beer League" and still have a good time watching it. I'm not sure.
The plot, for lack of a better word, revolves around a group of nice guys who are not very good softball players in a local New Jersey, not very good softball league. Of course, there is one team that always beats them that is led by a pompous easily detestable fellow named Dennis Mangenelli (Anthony DeSando). Artie and Dennis have known each other since childhood and Dennis is more successful (by a country mile), gets better looking girls etc. In short, he is what Artie wants to be. At least, in some ways.
Artie lives at home with his mother, played by Laurie Metcalfe, a good actress that has somehow stumbled in here. Her character is off the charts over the top, to the point of pure caricature. Then we have Artie's best friend on his team, Maz (Ralph Macchio). Macchio's career has fallen off the table and he looks absolutely lost here. Artie's love interest Linda (Cara Buono) does an okay job in her role, which puts her at or near the top of the performers here.
"Beer League" is targeted towards a small audience and a small audience is what it shall receive. One thing that deeply satisfied anyone who has ever played baseball in any form was that whenever a player hit the ball, it really went where the camera went except for one Macchio swing that flew the ball into the outfield when in reality it surely just dribbled off his bat. Some of you won't understand what I just said. The people in that group will probably not enjoy "Beer League". The rest of you might just get enough out of the whole thing.
