Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'The Slammin' Salmon'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Stephen King once said, and allow me to paraphrase in liberal fashion, that an artist must always challenge themselves in order to avoid becoming stagnant and there's plenty of truth to that statement. Because we have seen artists that always stick with the same ol' thing when it comes to their work and we've seen their careers fade because of a lack of originality or sheer failure to adapt to the marketplace. 

Thankfully, one particular set of comedic minds believe in the Stephen King edict since Broken Lizard has evolved since day one, exploring horror and meaning by way of their films Club Dread and Beerfest, all while staying true to the unique brand of comedy they introduced in Super Troopers. But for their fourth film, they decided to take their creative evolution to new heights by handing the director reigns to a new member of the troupe for the first time ever by letting Kevin Heffernan step  behind the camera, along with delivering a few new surprises storytelling wise our way in the hilarious film, The Slammin' Salmon.

Now the plot to this particular tale allows for the audience to step through the doors of an upscale seafood restaurant in Miami, known as The Slammin' Salmon. This is a place that was founded and named after Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Cleon Salmon and we spend a night with the entire wait staff as they try their best to make the most money the restaurant has ever pulled in, all in the hopes of getting the Champ the money he needs to pay off some bad debts with the Yakuza, and to possibly enjoy their own dreams coming to life with the ten thousand dollars the Champ has offered up to the waiter that manages to make him the most money on this hectic night. 

That simple plot, is what allows for the magic of ​The Slammin' Salmon to shine through because this film is an intimate character study of the colorful people that work in this wild place and the focus on the characters is what allows for this motion picture to evolve to that proverbial next level and become something completely unexpected...a master class on screenwriting. Because the challenge at hand here was to tell a complete story for every character presented without the script de-evolving into a sloppy mess...and Broken Lizard pulled it off. No plot point is left abandoned, and everyone goes on a complete journey. It's in essence a perfect script, something you rarely see in comedy, and all that precision in storytelling aside, the comedy is just as good as ever from this troupe. But there's one actor in this ensemble film that managed to completely and utterly steal the show in surprising fashion; and I'm not talking about Jay Chandrasekhar and his portrayal of Nuts/Zongo, I'm referring to the magic of the late Michael Clarke Duncan. 

​Mister Duncan is the man who brings Cleon Salmon to life and up until this movie, I do not recall seeing him in a full on comedic role and holy cow...he's amazing. From the one liners, to the delivery of his lines, Michael Clarke Duncan lets his inner comedian shine and it's a shame he passed on before getting the opportunity to explore that talent further. Regardless, The Slammin' Salmon is a wonderfully unique comedy, one that amazes when it comes to how complex the script and structure turned out to be and one that leaves you genuinely in tears with the quality of its jokes. Alas, this is the last entry that Broken Lizard has offered up our way for some time, with this film coming out in 2009, but eventually Super Troopers 2 ​will arrive on the big screen and hopefully the follow up to that legendary comedy kicks off a new wave of fresh films from a talented troupe that truly understand comedy. Until next time. 

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