Review of Beer for My Horses (2008) by D.e. K — 03 May 2011

While it never achieves anything above TV movie quality, there is a little extra heart that just barely justifies its existence.

There is so less substance to this film than the light beers that the characters enjoy at a couple points, and its length is definitely padded with scenes that do nothing for characterization, advancing the plot, or anything, really. A few nice concepts that actually might have carried a film show up, but none are used as they should have been.

You could describe the experience as a low-budget, redneck version of 'Bad Boys.' Toby Keith actually carries his role pretty well, which makes sense given that he wrote the script, and he isn't required to do much actual 'acting,' as his character rarely expresses any emotions other than 'mildly annoyed' or 'mildly bemused.' Ted Nugent is pretty fun to watch, although he has no dialogue and Rodney Carrington... well, he is decent comic relief but like a joke that goes on for too long you soon just want him to shut up.

The film as a whole isn't that bad. Its easy to follow and is paced decently, it has all the right parts and even gets a decent buddy-cop vibe going for a while, then when the supposed 'action' starts, it really loses its footing. Perhaps this is because of the PG-13 rating, but everything lacks impact, and for a climax, it really could have done better. Actually, an 'R' rating might have given this film the bite it needed to stand out. That ship has sailed, though.

All in all, there's nothing to recommend this movie unless you REALLY like the following:

Toby Keith.

Redneck humor (stereotypes and all).

Big Trucks.

If you like all of three of those, then yes, you will probably enjoy this movie. If not, why the heck were you watching this movie in the first place?