moonspinner55
Good ol' boy comedy-drama about the corporate buyout of an Iowa brewery and its effects on the employees and townspeople certainly had the opportunity to comedically explore greed and position in big business. Unfortunately, this movie-version of the hit song by Johnny PayCheck isn't at all the trenchant satire the opening moments hint it might be; instead, director Gus Trikonis (of all people) settles for redneck clichés and easy stabs at pathos (such as the veteran bottler who is transferred--one might say promoted--to distribution, but asks to return because he can't read). Robert Hays is the small-town boy who made good, returning to his roots to overhaul the brewery and act as hatchet-man; Tim Thomerson (way over-the-top) and David Keith are his boyhood pals who earn their living at the plant, while Barbara Hershey floats in and out of the movie as a former squeeze (she ends up making love with Hays after a mud fight, still caked in dirt). Some of the dialogue in Barry Schneider's exceedingly-thin screenplay has a little kick, but Trikonis in general is not good with actors: he keeps everybody shouting, even when the machines are turned off. *1/2 from ****
hawkikim-1
I watched this film because I love the song, because I knew it took place in Iowa (where I grew up) and because I have always enjoyed movies that were entertaining without being condescending. Other than the fact that almost all the main characters sound like they live in Texas instead of Dubuque, Iowa, it's pretty much a harmless, fun, little-guy-beats-big-guy film. Robert Hayes is appropriately handsome & earnest, Barbara Hershey is appropriately girl-next-door-cute and angry/supportive. Bonus points for the monster trucks. A harmless way to spend a couple of hours, especially if you love beer. Don't miss Lacy J. Dalton & friends singing "You Can Count on Beer".
Joseph Harder
When one looks at the cast of this incredibly bad film, one wonders who it could be so bad. There are good actors in this waste of celluloid...Art Carney, Royal Dano, David Keith,and Barbara Hershey, among others. In addition, the Johnny Paycheck song is a minor Country classic. There are also two genuinely funny, touching Bobby Bare/Lacy J. Dalton duets, " Beer Drinkin'Christians"(its far, far better-and even more profound- than the title makes it sound), and "Its a Dirty Job, but Someone's Got to do It." The latter song, about the collapse of a blue collar marriage, comes during one of the few moments of sociological -and human- insight in the whole mess, when David Keith and his wife are arguing about family finances and their kids futures over dinner.In the background, we see a statue of The Sacred Heart, and we realize that these people are, indeed, "beer-drinkin' Christians". The culprits are a moronic script that mixes crass., occasionally amusing slapstick with "biting' social criticism, and the flat-footed direction of Gus Trikonis, a true hack. To adapt a phrase from Ms. Dalton's song ( that sadly underused talent has a brief appearance as a bar-maid), the unfortunate soul that sits through this film will feel "..like a lame armadillo , dodging fast Chrysler's on interstate 10"...a 4. ( And that only because we get to see Ms. Hershey mud -wrestle, and because the songs are pretty good)
Peach-2
I don't know why I like this film. It might have to do with the fact that when I was a young kid I was in love with monster trucks. The sight of all that destruction was exactly what my 9 year old brain needed. This is a pretty terrible movie as it turns out, but it was fun at the time. Oh well, a guilty pleasure for me anyhow.
AD
