Rating: 4/5

Director: Michael Dowse
Writers: David Lawrence, Paul Spence, Michael Dowse
Cast: David Lawrence, Paul Spence, Rose Martin

Dean (“Deaner”) and Terry don’t ask for a lot in life. All they want is a trunk load of beer, heavy metal music, and an occasional acid trip vacation. They live day to day doing the most idiotic things an 18 year old headbanger from the 1980s without any direction in life would do (see above photo). There are no rules in Dean and Terry’s world, and anarchy to them means slumming it without all of the violence. As a viewer, it’s attractive watching these two comedically destroy their lives all the while trying to better themselves.

FUBAR: BALLS TO THE WALL picks up eight years after the original film left off. Dean (Paul Spence) is free of testicular cancer so his mom and best friend, Terry (David Lawrence) decide to throw him a party. These three don’t party like my mother and I would (chips, cheese dip, and Diet Dr. Pepper), these three set fire to the home they currently live in, cut through walls with a chainsaw, and walk away like it’s all normal. Shortly after they travel away from their home to try and get jobs with a friend, country-listening, rap-singing Tron (Andrew Sparacino), at a construction plant. Two metal heads working with heavy machinery while under the influence of something, anything, cannot and will not go well.

BALLS TO THE WALL sets up as a faux documentary, like a successful feature-length episode of NBC’s The Office. The film was written by Lawrence, Spencer, and Michael Dowse, and the film was directed by Dowse. These three worked together on the first, and like the first, they’re behind-the-lens chemistry is flawless. I’ve seen many flicks where teens and young adults live life without a job, money, or care for what’s going to happen tomorrow, but FUBAR 1 & 2 marks the first time I’ve seen full blown adults (with a teenage mentality) attempt that idea. I believe the FUBAR films are an experiment - can two knuckheads really get by doing nothing but partying and drinking beer? Is it believable? Absolutely. Dowse puts Dean and Terry in places and situations that probably wouldn’t work for most adults, but here, it makes sense when they do work. They happen to stumble on the right things at the right time and do the most idiotic things to get by.

As strangely as this sounds, Dean and Terry are very charming fellows with a lot of heart. The best examples of this involves a scene where D&T go hunting for hockey pads for Dean’s daughter on Christmas Eve. The stepfather of his child has already purchased some and is willing to give them to Dean for her, but that’s just not how a father should give his daughter a gift. So, these two destroy a sports store and Terry’s newly purchased vehicle just so Dean’s precious daughter can open a gift from him. This is, folks, is a strangely adorable example of the do-good blood these two fuck-ups have in their hearts.

This review may be slightly confusing, as I’m recommending a movie about two substance abuse metal heads with a lot of heart, but I promise you, dear reader, BALLS TO THE WALL does not fall short of excellent comedic cinema.