Review of The Slammin' Salmon (2009) by Tony G — 10 May 2010

Here is another comedy from the Broken Lizard troupe. The guys responsible for such comedies as Super Troopers and Beerfest. While those previous films are funnier, this one still manages to bring a few laughs. In recent time, I've been more invested in the intelligent comedies, so this film is was a nice escape into the dick/fart joke genre of comedy I so much adored as a child.

The plot is wafer thin, but serves as a basic backbone for some humorous sight gags. Michael Clarke Duncan stars as a Cleon "Slammin" Salmon, an ex-chanpion boxer who runs a successful restaurant named The Slammin Salmon. (If you didn't catch that, there may be no cure for your idiocy.) He runs afoul of the Japanese Yakuza owes them $20,000 before nights end. He sets a up a competition within his wait staff, paying the winner of most money earned for him a bonus a $10,000. This sets off an array of shenanigans as each waiter tries to be the one to pocket the money prize.

If you've seen Troopers and Beerfest, you already now that the Broken Lizard guys have good comedic timing, and work well with each other. The real surprise with this film is Duncan. He was unexpectedly funny as he showed off his natural skills of comedy. I must also recognize the two female leads played by Cobie Smulders (who is awesome in one of my favorite shows, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER) and April Bowlby (Two and Half Men), as these ladies were very humorous in their roles as waitresses competing with the boys.

In conclusion, the film was funny. It had some great one-liners as well as sight gags. I was a little disappointed to see the film was being made on such a small budget and shooting schedule. I feel if they had more time to get certain details worked out, this could have been on the level of Troopers and Beerfest.