To start off on the fair and balanced foot, I will admit I was a Tucker Max fan going into the movie.
Yeah, I liked the book. Yeah, I think the persona of Tucker Max is hilarious.
Yeah, I realize he might be a bit of bad person and perhaps even a misogynist.
Having said that, the movie was mediocre. I wanted to like it. I really did. But it just wouldn't let me.
Let's start with the good.
The dialog of Drew (Slingblade in the book), played by Jesse Bradford, was a highlight.
Granted, the deep-seated cynicism and "I hate on everyone in a smart, not at all light-hearted way" bit gets old about halfway through.
The scenes in the strip club, set in Salem, N.C., and not Austin like in the book, are where some of Drew's lines fall flat.
The Drew and smart stripper plotline tried too hard. I understand. He's bitter about his ex-girlfriend's betrayal. He doesn't trust women.
No need to beat it into my head the entire movie.
Regardless, the Pancakewich (read: McGriddle) rant was even more hilarious on screen.
Any rant that can incorporate a fast food breakfast item, syrup nuggets, donkey punching and cellophane sodomy is idiot savant level genius.
Matt Czuchry as Tucker Max also had a slew (gaggle, swarm, murder, etc.) of good lines.
Most were direct attacks against strippers, fat girls, skinny girls, girls in general, but done in a way that didn't glorify the behavior, because Tucker is set up as a hopeless narcissistic jerk that cannot control his wild, id-centric behavior.
And he realizes, by the end of the movie the audience is led to believe, how his selfish behavior affects others, in this case one of his best friends, Dan.
Though his realization is suspect.
And rightly so.
That is part of the mythos of Tucker Max.
What's not part of the Max mythos is his best friend Dan's (Geoff Stults) boring and typical relationship conversations with Kristy (Keri Lynn Pratt), his fiance.
Every conversation between these two concerning marriage, lying, Tucker, anything and everything else, was groan inducing.
Pratt was particularly painful to watch.
It's not a coincidence that the best and funniest dialog was lifted directly from the book.
The cinematography was also poor.
My friend Cliff said it looked like a direct-to-TV movie, most likely a Lifetime exclusive.
I agree. The lighting and all that stuff film people look for was bad.
Maybe it was the cinematography or maybe it was the painful relationship dialog of the Dan and Kristy characters, but it felt like something was off.
When I'm watching a great movie, I sometimes forget I'm watching a movie. It's almost like I'm privy to some intimate real-life situation.
But with IHTSBH I was always aware it was a movie. It was too poorly acted and too stilted (at times anyway) for me to get that intimate feel. (I know that's vague, but ... shut up. It makes sense to me.)
I would be letting you down as a reviewer if I did not mention the "poop" scene.
Tucker insults a fat girl and, to get even, she squirts eye drops in his beer.
Flash forward several scenes and Tucker is running across a hotel lobby, uncontrollably defecating down his leg.
It was gross and funny and you'll have to watch it for yourself.
Oh, and, spoiler alert, there was a midget sex scene.
As in, Tucker has sex with a midget stripper.
And the real Tucker Max makes an appearance as Dan's brother and best man.
"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" has its flaws. The camera work is shoddy and some of the conversations and "enlightening" moments are dumb. But it has its moments. Tucker is there in all his beer swilling, girl insulting, fart joking glory.
If you liked the book, there's a good chance you will enjoy at least some of the movie.
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