Review of The Slammin' Salmon (2009) by Jason D — 05 May 2010

Rich: Dave, can I get a re-fire?

Dave: What did you just say to me?

Rich: The guy at table five wants it cooked a little bit more.

Dave: No! They asked for it medium rare. It's perfect. If he wants it cooked more, tell him to go shove it up his ass.

Rich: You want me to tell that guy to cook this in his ass?

Dave: Yeah, within the inside of his anus.

A comedy from the Broken Lizard troupe that never quite comes together. There are a number of good laughs, and the guys all have solid chemistry together, as expected. However, the film is poorly made, with more jokes landing flat than succeeding. Still, a comedic performance from Michael Clarke Duncan can go a long way.

Cleon Salmon: You know what ten grand feels like in your pocket? It feels like a third cock.

The film mainly takes place during one long day, where a former heavy weight boxing champion, Cleon Salmon (Duncan) tasks his waiters to make a killing in profits for the night, because he lost a bet with Yakuza and owes big. Yep, that's the plot outline.

The waiters consist of a number of different caricatures created by the Broken Lizard cast and also features a couple of women for good measure. Various shenanigans and crazy situations occur as the team tries to make a lot of money.

A noticeable difference for this Broken Lizard feature has to do with its direction. The previous films were all directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, but this time Kevin Heffernan takes control, and his amateur ability shows. Its certainly not unwatchable, but balancing all the different types of comedy present here becomes a tough act, and the film certainly doesn't do a good job at holding that balance. The guys are also all clearly fans of their writing, which has hurt their other films in the past, and here it does them no favors when the jokes (especially running gags) just don't work well.

Still, a lot of jokes do provide some fun moments, and I've already addressed how funny Duncan manages to be as the incompetent yet physically opposing owner.

Broken Lizard fans may enjoy some of this, but its still a bit of a mess.

Cleon Salmon: Who is Guy... Meatdrapes? What kind of name is that?

Guy: It's, um, it's Metdrapedes, sir. It's Greek.

Cleon Salmon: I think you're pronouncing it wrong. This says Meatdrapes.

Guy: It's actually pronounced Metdrapedes.

Cleon Salmon: Well, why doesn't it sound like that when I say it? Meatdrapes.