Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie Review

The long-running series says a final farewell.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner February 16, 2010

Beginning as a simple low-budget Canadian film, Trailer Park Boys quickly blossomed into a seven season television series. When the show eventually came to a close in 2007, creator Mike Clattenburg decided to continue the misadventures of the gang with a follow-up film titled Countdown to Liquor Day. I personally haven’t viewed a single episode of the original Canadian series (available only on DVD and DirecTV), so I can’t honestly contribute the best perspective on the final chapter of the series. However, despite the lack of background on the characters in the film, I can at least evaluate the merits of the comedy and the specific shenanigans of the film.

Rum & Coke + tequila shots = bad ideas

Upon his release from prison, Bubbles (Mike Smith) returns home to find his beloved cats missing, and his trailer/shack boarded up. He soon discovers the Sunnyvale Trailer Park is undergoing a facelift into a haven for high-class manufactured homes, thanks to the entrepreneurial management of owner Jim Lahey (John Dunsworth). When Bubbles approaches Lahey about the situation with his cats, a strip of his hair is shaved off in a freak accident with an electric razor. The following day, inmates Ricky (Robb Wells) and Julian (John Tremblay) escape from a prisoner transport vehicle, steal a van, and hold up a local liquor store. Using the proceeds from the heist, Julian purchases a car, and makes plans with Ricky to build an auto body shop. They’re soon reunited with their friend Bubbles, which leads the violent tempered Ricky to exact revenge on Lahey’s boyfriend Randy (Patrick Roach), shaving his entire head. A much calmer Julian steps in to defuse the situation, while finding adequate time to add a one-car garage to his dilapidated trailer. Before long, the “auto shop” is complete, and the boys are ready to make a legitimate living. Unfortunately, they didn’t consider the necessity of customers, and Ricky soon becomes disenchanted with Julian’s business venture. Setting out on his own, Ricky pursues his GED and comes up with a plan to sell garbage-can greenhouses to grow individual marijuana plants. Sadly, his dreams are dashed when the once-sober Lahey returns to his old drunken ways, and touches off a crushing wave of destruction. Back to square one, the boys concoct a daring plan to rob a local bank while posing as security guards. Unfortunately, no one considered the problems Lahey could pose, and the well-executed heist quickly becomes an exercise in mayhem. I guess you can take the man out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the man.

I’m going out on a limb here, but I’d assume the television series is much better than this film. Sure, there are fleeting moments of hilarity strewn throughout the feature, but I found a large portion of the runtime devoid of legitimate comedy. Every character is outrageous in one way or another, so you’d think their actions within a trailer park setting would be sufficient for non-stop laughs, but it soon becomes tedious watching characters that are this outlandish. Ricky is the least redeeming of the bunch, sounding more like a mean-spirited bully than a person we’d want to succeed. Bubbles is an unintelligent introvert who appears innocent from the get-go (given the slow speech and coke-bottled glasses), yet cusses just as much if not more than everyone else. Julian is clearly the looker of the operation (leading to several funny scenes with the homosexual Lahey), but his character doesn’t quite fit within the construct of the film. He’s clearly the brains and brawn of the operation, but I found it difficult to tell if he was a nice guy or not. I know incorporating characters with redeeming qualities isn’t a necessity in comedy productions, but when you create roles the audience can’t associate with, it tends to create disconnect. Looking back on several of my favorite comedies (set in the real world), I typically gravitate toward those that remain at least partially grounded in reality.

Despite my reservations about the nature of the comedy, I did find a certain degree of entertainment value in Countdown to Liquor Day. First up, the inclusion of the white rapper named J-Roc (Jonathan Torrens) is downright brilliant. His dialogue in several scenes had me in stitches, and I loved the way they brought the focus back to him in the closing minutes of the film. Second, I thought John Dunsworth did a brilliant job as Jim Lahey, as he steamrolls through his transformation into a raging alcoholic. I could have done with a little less of his shenanigans toward the end of the film (the extreme definition of over-the-top), but I can admire the strengths he demonstrates in his performance. Finally, I found the conversations between Randy and Lahey extremely funny. The two men sound exactly like an old married couple when they have their little “kitchen chats” about Randy’s weight or Lahey’s alcohol abuse. They both act indignant at the implications of the other partner, and retaliate accordingly.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of Mbps): Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day offers a weak visual presentation from start to finish. The nature of the documentary-style photography doesn't lend itself well to the high-definition format, making this a difficult image to assess. Clarity appears decent from time to time, but the overall inconsistency is a bit jarring. At its worst, the transfer seems incapable of replicating even a marginal level of detail, as if we're witnessing an upscaled standard definition offering. Beyond the lack of clarity, I was further let-down by the occasional presence of edge-enhancement, an unattractive layer of film grain (causing horrible noise on the surface of dark clothing around the 26:20 mark), and several scenes with extremely weak blacks. As a result, were left with an image that's rarely a value-added experience.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Considering the lossless mix isn't the default track on the disc, you'll need to manually select it prior to starting the feature. Once you get that minor inconvenience out of the way, you'll notice a marginal improvement in clarity and robust sound design, but not the overwhelming boost in proficiency that usually accompanies a lossless upgrade. Similar to the visual presentation, this is likely a by-product of the low-budget documentary style, which doesn't translate to a profound improvement on Blu-ray. The majority of the track remains firmly planted in the front sound stage, with only occasional blips moving to the rear. Dialogue dominates the mix, but there are several rousing scenes toward the end that kick things up a notch. For instance, in the closing minutes of the bank heist, the boys engage in a wild car chase with Lahey in hot pursuit. During that section, the sense of immersion kicks into high gear, but still doesn't rectify the underperformance up to that point.

If you're accustomed to the nature of the television series I'd imagine this will satisfy your expectations, but anyone jumping into the Trailer Park Boys universe for the first time will likely feel let-down with the audio experience (compared with other Blu-ray comedies).

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Deleted Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 34:23 min): This lengthy collection of deleted scenes contains some gems, but I wouldn't suggest adding any to the film (given the current runtime).

Alternate Ending-Lahey in Jail (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:54 min): The final scene of the film is altered to show Lahey urinating on several tourists and winding up in jail (reunited with Randy).

Sunnyvale Stories: The Making of the Countdown to Liquor Day (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 17:08 min): This comical behind-the-scenes featurette depicts every actor in character, as they discuss the experience of being followed by a documentary film crew. In between interviews, we're shown on-set footage of the crew in action.

Randy Gets a New Look (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 4:04 min): Hair Consultant Paul LeBlanc is given the opportunity to shave the head of Pat Roach (Randy), and incorporate the use of black (temporary) tattooing to appear as if he colored his head with black marker.

The Making of the Car Chase (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 6:23 min): In an interesting move, the security transport vehicle and Lahey's car were rigged for drivers to control the vehicles in the backseat/trunk, which allowed the boys to focus on acting during the final chase scene of the film. The set up for the chase scene is chronicled in the included footage.

Rounding out the extras, we have a feature-length audio commentary with three fans that post or moderate the boards on trailerparkboys.org. The series creator asked the three fans to complete this commentary and give their perspective on the themes and antics of the film. Unlike a typical director's commentary, these are merely observations between three viewers, so I quickly lost interest.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day is pure mayhem from start to finish. Chock full of as many criminal behaviors and irresponsible actions as they could pack into a 100-minute program, the film is two parts outlandish and one part funny. Perhaps the episodic nature of the television series is a better media outlet for this kind of humor, since it would allow for more consistency in the subject matter of each half hour segment, but as it stands, the comedic aspects of the film lacked focus and legitimate laughs, leaving this reviewer a bit underwhelmed. Stick with a rental.