Search - Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day on DVD

A Farewell Note to Trailer Park Boys and it's loyal fans?

PristineAngie_dot_com | NYC | 01/26/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to say bad things about the boys in Canada's beloved pseudo-reality TV series, which ran 7 seasons, not counting the one-off "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys" episode, which preceded this movie chronologically and plot-wise. There was also an Ivan Reitman-produced Trailer Park Boys Movie in 2008 (which didn't quite live up to the madness of the TV episodes).

Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles get out of prison and attempt once again, to stay out of prison. To their dismay, times have changed, and Sunnyvale has pretty much been abandoned. Bubbles's kitties are missing, and Lahey is now really off the bottle, swindling his ex-wife Barb out of property and using that deal to create the Lahey Luxury Estates. Unfortunately, the new property's main sewer runs underneath Julian's old trailer, so Lahey now has to plot to obtain Julian's land to complete his new utopia.

How is this movie different from the other brilliant Trailer Park Boys TV installments? Sarah Byrne, who was responsible for on-the-fly editing style, creating the comic timing of the earlier TV episode returns here. Blain Morris, who composed for the iconic TV theme, scores an understated soundtrack, inserting vintage country and western pieces when necessary, creating some gorgeous vistas alongside Ted McInnes cinematography. Rob Well's Ricky actually shines in some of his more serious - albeit deadpan - moments. The "battery charger advice scene" had me laughing out loud, rolling on the floor in it's sobriety: you can't jump start a dead car battery by hooking it up to your own dead battery! And the "No.1" Car Chase Scene of all time is worth the price of ticket admission alone, as the characters duel it out with a urinary swordfight in a high speed chase through downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I think Countdown to Liquor Day is a Love Letter to all TPB fans. It shows that the boys are symbolically forced to "return" to something that is no longer there anymore. The sense of wonder and enchantment with the real trailers in the backdrop when the camera used to follow Bubbles in his go-cart, has now been replaced by repetitive pre-fab trailers with no distinction from one to another. Mike Smith's own Bubbles seems more like a forced caricature of Bubbles than the fresh, innocent, kitty-loving compassionate, pacific guy who won our hearts over in the film short "The Cart Boy" that started it all, some ten years ago. The other guys - J-Roc, T, Julian, seems growingly impatient with the impending typecast of their roles. The comedy in the earlier versions comes from a certain innocence of the boys thinking they will succeed, even when we know they can't. "Countdown" has a darker, more pessimistic tone: the boys seem to realize they are more apt to fail, and along with that comes a meaner, angrier streak. Where they use to look out for each other in the tight-knit trailer park community, the ethos seems to lean more towards "looking out for No.1." Phrases like "I'm not sure what success is, but I'm pretty sure it's not this," "I'm not feeling it anymore" may be read a number of ways. The boys pleading the film crew to stop filming them in the future is another Easter Egg in plain sight.

Sam "Caveman" Losco, Jacob and the Mustard Tiger, the original TV-Cyrus, and George Green, Barrie Dunn all appear, but only briefly in the backdrop. The comic duo of Trevor and Cory is long gone. Lucy, Sarah, and Trinity appear merely by duty, almost like former popular classmates showing up a for a class reunion. Even the front lawn bee with the spinning wings gets a bow out. Brian Vollmer of Helix and Alex Lifeson of Rush also make guests cameos. And of course, the two Chrysler New Yorkers almost disintegrated as a mile-marker of the evolution of TPB.

The movie is called Countdown to Liquor Day, so naturally the focus is on Jim Lahey and his lover Randy. Though John Dunsworth has pretty much exhausted every possible improvisation of FUBAR drunkenness in all previous episodes and outtakes, he carries the movie when scenes tend - as Clattenburg commented in the first TV season - to walk the tight rope between comedy and drama, and come dangerously close to toppling onto the serious side. Pat Roach is his able male lover, bickering with and nagging Jim in a domestic tale of a same sex couple.

Some of the whackiness of the earlier days are, as always, hidden in the "Deleted Scenes" section; Ricky tricking policemen into arresting innocent hunters during a liquor store holdup is a signature move, Ricky demanding from the film crew just what it is they are filming, Cyrus pulling his gun out during an academic test. There's also IMHO, a superior alternate ending that brings the focus back to Lahey and ends "Countdown" on a positive note, sending a morse code to fans like Seinfeld's final episode. There's a fun, alternate commentary track featuring the three familiar folks at the fansite trailer park boys org: Fishy Neil, Shake, and Tiggy.

The boys and creator Mike Clattenburg is in the process of creating a new show entitled "The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour" scheduled to air later this year. I look forward to new and great things from this troupe. My friend and I drove 1000 miles to Halifax for the premier of this movie, too poor for hotels and as a homage to Ricky...we slept in the car.


"

The Countdown Is On

Sampson Simpson | Canada | 02/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After the season 7 finale, which seemed to tie the show up in one big happy ending, it certainly was a surprise that one additional episode ("Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys") and one final movie would be tacked on to send the Trailer Park Boys out in style. While I was perfectly satisfied with the "happy" ending provided in season 7, I suppose that this is the TPB, and there's no such thing as happy endings for Ricky and Julian.

It is two years since the events of "Say Goodnight..." and the Boys are about to get out of jail. Bubbles is bailed first and returns to Sunnyvale trailer park to find the place in a state of abandonment. His cats are gone, the kittie door to his shed has been mysteriously boarded up, and Phil & Jacob Collins are hightailing it out of there. What happened?

Lahey, sober as a judge, came into some money and invested in a new park called Lahey's Luxury Estates. However, now Julian is back, and he wants to turn his old trailer into a legit business, a garage, employing old friends Ricky, Bubbles, J-Roc and T. He just needs to commit some crimes for some start-up money. And Lahey needs that trailer. The sewage for the new park is going to go right through where it stands....

This setup is all that is needed to bring Lahey back to the liquor, send Randy into a tailspin, and bring Ricky and Julian loads of trouble that they did not ask for, but are going to get anyway.

Highlights of this movie, for me, included:
1. Cameos by Brian Vollmer of Helix (presumably as himself, who the boys seem to recognize from their previous encounter) and Alex Lifeson in drag as an undercover cop.
2. Bubbles' mission to rescue his cats with new friend Jenny.
3. J-Roc, whose career in the rap game takes a surprising turn.
4. Rickyisms hit a brand-new low (which only makes them funnier).
5. Lahey is drunker than ever, and gets his just desserts.

It's not all laughs, however. One major flaw with Countdown To Liquor Day is the near-absence of the supporting cast. J-Roc and T play a substantial role, but Barb Lahey, and of course Corey and Trevor as well, are nowhere to be found. There are also no Corey & Trevor substitutes or "jail cover" which was crucial to the humour of previous episodes. Lucy and Sarah play no important role, and neither does Trinity who appears all grown up and gothed out. Basically, the cast has been reduced to the three Boys, plus J-Roc and T, vs. Randy and Lahey and that is it. For a show that was originally supported by a large cast and supporting characters, this did not feel like classic TPB.

Having said that, TPB is a decent movie. It's just not the movie I wanted the Boys to go out on. To me, season 7 was a much more suitable goodbye. While all loose ends are indeed tied up (it is quite clear by the ending that this will be the last documented adventure of the TPB), it is not the happy ending that season 7 was. Perhaps only Bubbles ends up in a better place than he was. And Lahey? He got what he deserved!

The DVD for this movie is excellent, with a great alternate ending that has aspects that should have been incorporated into the film. While the film's original ending had brief cameos by Sam Losco and officers Green & Johnson, the alternate ending is expanded to include those plus Cyrus, Terry and Dennis. Since Terry and Dennis hadn't been seen since season 5, that was very cool. However why was "Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys" not included? It is a direct prequel to this film, and is completely unavailable on any DVD of any kind.

I recommend Countdown To Liquor Day to all Trailer Park Boys fans who don't mind change. Because in this trailer park, the times they are a changin'.

5 stars.

Side note: Check out the boys and Alex Lifeson of Rush in "The Drunk And On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour" in 2010!"

A Nice Addition to the TBP Story

stolensoul | tiny town, ohio | 01/22/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It wasn't quite what I expected after seeing every episode and the first movie, but I did enjoy it. I liked the alternate ending and some of the deleted scenes more than I liked the actual movie, but I WAS NOT disappointed. Not to be a spoiler, but we've watched it twice now and each time we pick up on small details and characters in the background. Overall I think this was a great movie and the cast and crew did an excellent job. In the interest of continuing the TPB story, I would have liked to have seen what happened that led to the boys being in jail since everyone seemed happy at the end of the series, T and J-Roc's babies, Randy and Lucy's baby, etc. It wouldn't have needed to be big either- just have the kids around and maybe a quick cut scene to why Jim had them tossed back in and I would have thought it was perfect- that's why I only gave it four stars."

The only difference between them and you is a coupla drinks.

mike | canada | 02/21/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The tag line prety much sums it up, and like the funniest of jokes, it is so true. Ok so most of us have'nt robbed a bank, but you've thought about it have'nt you?
The boys are back, out of jail and wasting no time in resuming thier criminal careers. They quickly come up against a sober Jim Lahey and a home in shambles.
Always the entrepeneur, Julian comes up with a plan to put them on easy street, and the hijinks ensue. You have to admire thier tenacity at avioding "real" jobs.
Missing in action are the faithfull scapegoats Corey and Trevor, and the star cameo's from the previous film.
A fun ride, from the people who put "real" in reality TV."