The Slammin' Salmon [Blu-ray]

Slammin’ Cleon Salmon, the former Heavyweight Champion of the world, is a mean, crazy, and sometimes infantile bull of a man, who happens to owe $20,000 to the head of the Japanese Yakuza and needs to come up with the money tonight. So he challenges the waiters in the restaurant that he owns, The Slammin’ Salmon, a high end, boxing themed seafood eatery in Miami, to sell more food than they’ve ever sold in their lives, with the top waiter earning $10,000, the loser getting a broken rib sandwich. As the hours pass, the action becomes more chaotic as Cleon shows up to supervise the contest and changes the rules on a minute to minute basis. The Broken Lizard gang is back with The Slammin' Salmon, a rowdy comedy that spends a night in a restaurant of the same name. Boxer Cleon Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan, 1999 Academy Award nominee for The Green Mile) owns the swanky eatery and needs to raise fast cash to settle a gambling debt. He challenges his hapless crew to a contest to see who can up-sell the most in order to reach his goal of $20,000 before closing time. Director Kevin Heffernan sets a rapid-fire pace loaded with pratfalls, spit takes, food fights, and bathroom humor. The Slammin' Salmon brings together the usual Broken Lizard (Club Dread, Supertroopers, and Beerfest) regulars: Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Steve Lemme, Jay Chandrasekhar, and Heffernan (as the jittery manager). Cobie Smulders and April Bowlby round out the cast as frenzied waiters who'll do anything to avoid a "broken-rib sandwich" from the intimidating Salmon. Saturday Night Live's Will Forte plays a table-hogging, water-sipping lone diner who leaves a surprise tip. Vivica A. Fox and Morgan Fairchild make awkward cameos. The one-liners and sight gags can wear thin after an hour, but die-hard Broken Lizard film fans know what they're in for when they watch a Heffernan romp, and The Slammin' Salmon won't disappoint. --Francine RuleyStills from The Slammin' Salmon (Click for larger image)