FREELOADERS

2012 / Director. Dan Rosen.

You might be familiar with  BROKEN LIZARD. They're the guys who gave us PUDDLE CRUISER, SUPER TROOPERS, CLUB DRED, BEERFEST AND THE SLAMMIN' SALMON. They have a unique brand of humour and in my opinion they've been one of the best comedy troupes since KIDS IN THE HALL. In addition to the films they've written and directed they have also produced a couple of movies on the side. THE BABYMAKERS and STARSKY & HUTCH are two of them and FREELOADERS is another. This is not a great film. It is nowhere near the standard we've come to expect from these guys - and yet it has it's charm. A group of friends are freeloading off Adam Duritz (the lead singer of The Counting Crows). They have been living in his Beverly Hills Mansion freely for 6 years and while Adam is globetrotting with his band, they've been reaping the benefits. It's a free ride for these bludgers until Adam announces that he's getting married and will be selling the house. With one month to leave and nowhere to go these slow-thinkers hash a plan to thwart the sale. Enter a ruthless and uber sexy real estate agent played by Jane Seymour. You will need to leave your brain at the door and give FREELOADERS some leniency. For the first 30 minutes I contemplated switching off. The comedy was scarce and the situation bored me... but I'm glad I kept watching because with the arrival of the BROKEN LIZARD boys themselves and a self-referential and satirical Dave Foley, the film picks up. Local Aussie funny guy Josh Lawson leads the film and it's surprising and unexpected to see him land such a prominent role. He's starting to do some big things in the States and good on him. His American accent is solid and his nice-guy persona has all of the hallmarks of future typecast. I'll be keen to see what he does over the next few years. He was recently in THE CAMPAIGN and will appear in ANCHORMAN 2 and so he's keeping good company with Will Ferrell. With enough decent gags to make it worthwhile, I was able to forgive the ones which fell flat. Dave Foley steals the show and it's worth it for him alone. Keep in mind that this is not an "official" BROKEN LIZARD film, but rather one they backed as producers. Could have been better. Could have been worse. 

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