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Subject: 'Invincible' and 'Beerfest': Eerily Alike?
Time: 6:35:00 PM EDT
Author: summermovieblog
With August drawing to a close, it's likely that we've seen the last of the big summer blockbusters. But that doesn't mean there's nothing worth seeing at your local multiplex this weekend. In fact, there are two movies opening today that are well worth your 10 bucks: 'Beerfest' and 'Invincible.' While they may seem like completely different movies on the surface -- 'Beerfest' is a raunchy R-rated comedy and 'Invincible' is an inspirational PG-rated Disney drama -- I assure you that these two flicks have way more in common than meets the eye. Here are just a few of the commonalities they share ...
For starters, they're both underdog stories. In the based-on-a-true-story football flick 'Invincible,' Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale, a down-on-his-luck bartender (his wife left him, he just lost his part-time teaching job, his crappy car never starts) who tries out for the Philadelphia Eagles -- and makes it! While the film is pretty formulaic, there are at least three scenes in there that will have grown men weeping and/or phoning their physicians to ask for a prescription for two testicles. 'Beerfest,' on the other hand, is not a true story. It a good old-fashioned bawdy laugh-riot from Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe responsible for the cult fave 'Super Troopers.' The films message about underdogs striving for greatness is equally moving. Here, however, our heroes' goal is to be recognized as the greatest beer drinkers in the world. I have to admit to getting choked up a couple times when the guys were chugging an especially large pitcher of brew or when one of the guys (Jay Chandrasekhar) faces down his criplling fear of playing beer pong to help out his buddies. If you don't fight off a couple tears then, you have no heart in your hollow tin chest.
In addition to sharing underdog status, the men in both films are inspired by love. For Wahlberg in 'Invincible,' that love comes from a fellow bartender: the smokin' hot Elizabeth Banks. Even though she's from New York and is a devoted Giants fan to her smokin'-hot core, she loves her man so much that she sucks it up and roots for him when the Eagles take on the Giants. In 'Beerfest,' the beer-swilling underachievers are also motivated by love for a) beer and b) their prostitute of great grandma (Cloris Leachman).
But I don't want you to think that there aren't ANY differences between these two films. While some of 'Invincible' does occur within a bar (another commonality it shares with 'Beerfest'), it is a very clean, family friendly flick that even non-football-fans can enjoy. 'Beerfest,' on the other hand, features sex, a fair amount of foul language, plenty of gratuitous nudity and a whole lot of beer drinking, so it may not be suitable for anyone with kids. Just a heads-up on that one -- you know, it case you were thinking about taking your 10-year-old.
POST: Which of these movies do you want to see?
Get 'Invincible' showtimes and tickets
Get 'Beerfest' showtimes and tickets
Watch our 'Invincible' unscripted interview
Tags: Beerfest, Invincible, Mark Wahlberg, Summer Movies
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I'm sick of all these stupid football movies. Football (like most sports) is incredibly boring and full of overpaid jocks that can kick (or catch) a ball but can't tell you when America was discovered. Or who discovered it for that matter. Or anything else that someone who paid attention in the 3rd grade can tell you. Beerfest on the other hand, while based on a sport (even though it's a fake sport) looks to be really funny and entertaining.
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beerfest was soo funny, definatly a great movie to sneak into if your a teenager
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I's rather see a football flick than some movie about a bunch of guys getting wasted plus Mark Wahlberg is freakin' hot!!!
9/1/06 2:24 PM