Review of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009) by Celeste M — 08 Feb 2010

Is it funny? Yes ... from a guy's perspective. Is it lewd, crude, offensive and gross? Yes. Is it worth watching? Yes. Based on the non-fiction book by self-proclaimed a$$hole Tucker Max, "...Beer in Hell" hits all the gross, degrading checks that would have most women rolling their eyes in disgust. Don't get me wrong this movie was pretty good ... but we've seen it before. It's as if the filmmakers took the Stifler (Seann William Scott) character and his storyline from "American Wedding" (a.k.a. American Pie 3) and made it grosser and more from Stifler's point of view rather than Jim's (Jason Biggs).

The book is much funnier than the film but don't think that Max has many redeeming qualities. He admits that he's a womanizer and makes no apologies for it. Does it make him misogynistic? This is briefly called into question in the film. The word actually means hatred of women. So, does Tucker Max hate women? No. In fact, if it weren't for them, he wouldn't fulfill his juvenile fantasies and conquests. But I can say that he's definitely disrespectful of women. He definitely has no respect for them. And yet, he still has women all over him. The quandary of this is brought to brilliant light by his best friends (Geoff Stults and Jesse Bradford -- the true pseudo-misogynist of the film). Nevertheless, if you're a guy this film is entertaining and funny. If you're a woman, you might not be so entertained. My favorite character in the film wasn't even male. I really enjoyed the character of Lara (Marika Dominczyk), who gave Bradford's character a run for his money and didn't put up with any of his crap. That's the kind of character I like.

Upon viewing this film, you may not respect Tucker Max (I know I didn't) -- and he doesn't care whether you do or not -- but you will definitely react strongly to the situations. This love-it-or-hate-it film left me laughing in quite a few parts, but that's just me. Guys and girls, view it and judge for yourself!