Perhaps it is just the nature of the beast. Haven't we all grown accustomed to being disappointed in the last entry to a series (especially a T.V. series, which is what TPB will be remembered as)? It could be that the writers feel extra pressure knowing that they will have their characters immortalized and remembered a certain way once it is over, and in an attempt to make that last impression perfect, they overwhelm the audience with nothing more than caricatures of the characters we once loved. The first ten minutes were probably the best part of the movie, because it leads one to believe that it will be just another great addition to the series. The Big 3 are fresh out of jail and appear to be back to their old ways, but once it was revealed that Julian would be following through with his auto body shop, the movie shifted into neutral and stayed there.
I guess I just have high expectations. As an American, I never saw any of the shows on their original air dates and only caught wind of the series a few years ago when Comedy Central aired The Big Dirty. I would come to watch every episode on google video in about a month's time, and not once did I feel that any of the show's themes had become played out. It took brilliant writing to keep answering the same question over and over, "How many different ways can these guys keep breaking the law and keep pissing off Lahey?" The biggest disappointment for me was the character of J Roc. He was my favorite character on the show, but when dealing with white guys who think they are black (in entertainment and in everyday life), there is a very fine line that makes you love guy for being so ridiculous or hating him for trying to be something he is not. On the show, J Roc was always on the hilarious side of that line, but in Liquor Day he had a new found chip on his shoulder that he never had in the series. At no point did he ever try to clown anybody, it just seemed as if he was always complaining.
Underdevelopment was also an issue. So little was done to develop the subplot of Ricky growing dope on his own that it was hard to care when Lahey ruined everything. The series would spend so much time and involve every step of whatever scheme Ricky and the boys were doing that you really felt for them when everything backfired. In the case of Liquor Day, meh, who cares? The part at the end which finds Lahey atop the bank threatening to jump is the epitome of the caricature point I brought up earlier. He had always been the bumbling trailer park supervisor that was a drunk, but in a comedic way. By the end of the movie one almost feels concern for him as he brings a darker side to how sick he really is (I am in no way saying alcoholism is not a serious matter, but in the series it was always portrayed very lightheartedly).
What was missing was Barb. Barb always had a way of sobering up Lahey just in her presence alone. Lahey would try to be a bad ass to everyone else in the park, but as soon as she showed up it was like she had him by the balls and he was pleading that she wouldn't twist.
A MUST SEE FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS SEEN EVERYTHING ELSE, OTHERWISE, YOU SHOULD PASS!
I guess I just have high expectations. As an American, I never saw any of the shows on their original air dates and only caught wind of the series a few years ago when Comedy Central aired The Big Dirty. I would come to watch every episode on google video in about a month's time, and not once did I feel that any of the show's themes had become played out. It took brilliant writing to keep answering the same question over and over, "How many different ways can these guys keep breaking the law and keep pissing off Lahey?" The biggest disappointment for me was the character of J Roc. He was my favorite character on the show, but when dealing with white guys who think they are black (in entertainment and in everyday life), there is a very fine line that makes you love guy for being so ridiculous or hating him for trying to be something he is not. On the show, J Roc was always on the hilarious side of that line, but in Liquor Day he had a new found chip on his shoulder that he never had in the series. At no point did he ever try to clown anybody, it just seemed as if he was always complaining.
Underdevelopment was also an issue. So little was done to develop the subplot of Ricky growing dope on his own that it was hard to care when Lahey ruined everything. The series would spend so much time and involve every step of whatever scheme Ricky and the boys were doing that you really felt for them when everything backfired. In the case of Liquor Day, meh, who cares? The part at the end which finds Lahey atop the bank threatening to jump is the epitome of the caricature point I brought up earlier. He had always been the bumbling trailer park supervisor that was a drunk, but in a comedic way. By the end of the movie one almost feels concern for him as he brings a darker side to how sick he really is (I am in no way saying alcoholism is not a serious matter, but in the series it was always portrayed very lightheartedly).
What was missing was Barb. Barb always had a way of sobering up Lahey just in her presence alone. Lahey would try to be a bad ass to everyone else in the park, but as soon as she showed up it was like she had him by the balls and he was pleading that she wouldn't twist.
A MUST SEE FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS SEEN EVERYTHING ELSE, OTHERWISE, YOU SHOULD PASS!