Published: August 21, 2008 10:19 am            

Keith’s 'Beer' movie provides little buzz

Movie Review

Based on the hang-‘em-high vigilante-justice anthem by Toby Keith, this cornpone action-comedy stars the award-winning country singer as an Oklahoma deputy sheriff who heads to Mexico to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend from a ruthless drug lord.

Country comedian Rodney Carrington is the buffoonish sidekick, and rocker Ted Nugent plays a gonzo deputy who doesn’t speak, preferring to let his bow and arrows do the talking.

England-born beauty Claire Forlani overrides her British accent with a syrupy Southern drawl as Keith’s love interest, and veteran actors Barry Corbin and Tom Skerritt, along with a flatulent dog — yes, you read that correctly — round out the cast. Country icons Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, Mac Davis and David Allan Coe pop up in cameos.

Obviously steering for Smokey and the Bandit pay dirt, Beer For My Horses never finds a lane into which it can settle its hayseed hodgepodge of clichéd plotting, racist stereotyping, vulgar humor, cartoonish acting, clumsy drama and shameless product placement. With all the shots of Ford trucks and logos, you’d think Keith, who had a heavy hand in both writing the screenplay and producing, is their commercial spokesman. (Oh, wait a minute — he is!)

And the yokel-ish yuks seems like they belong in a different movie entirely when the blood starts to flow and the body count begins to mount.

With dozens of music videos under his belt, Toby Keith is comfortable enough in front of the camera, suggesting the possibility of a real acting career if reined in by a strong director and a better script. His many fans will enjoy seeing his swaggering musical persona pumped up for the big screen.

But for the rest of the world, this Beer doesn’t provide much of a buzz.

        

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