Artie Lange's Beer League

Infobox Film | name = Artie Lange's Beer League

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caption = No Gut, No Glory
director = Frank Sebastiano
producer = Artie Lange
writer = Artie Lange
Frank Sebastiano
starring = Artie Lange
Ralph Macchio
Anthony DeSando
Cara Buono
Jimmy Palumbo
Jerry Minor
with Laurie Metcalf
and Seymour Cassel
music = John Debney
cinematography =
editing = Peter Fandetti
distributor = Echo Bridge Entertainment
released = September 15, 2006 (USA)
runtime = 86 min.
language = English
budget = $2,800,000 (Estimate)
imdb_id = 0453453

"Artie Lange's Beer League" is a 2006 movie written, produced, and starring Artie Lange. It was released in selected theaters on September 15, 2006 in the New Jersey, New York, Cleveland, and Philadelphia areas. The DVD was released on January 2, 2007.

Plot

"Beer League" is a comedy about Artie DeVanzo (Artie Lange), an unemployed underachiever who still lives with his mother and plays in a small town softball league in New Jersey with his rag-tag group of misfit friends. Artie's team faces off with their rivals, headed by Dennis Manganelli (Anthony DeSando), and the two rivals do more fighting than playing. When Artie's team is threatened with permanent expulsion from the local league after being jailed for yet another fight on the field, they must rally and move from last place to 2nd - in one brief season, while Artie tries to hold on to the only woman who loves him for who he is.

Trivia

*The title was promoted as "Artie Lange's Beer League" so that it would not be confused with another contemporary movie, "Beerfest". The on-screen and DVD title is "Beer League".

*This film was inspired by a 2001 short film titled "Gameday" starring Lange, Michael Deeg and Jimmy Palumbo. It can be seen on the DVD "".

* During the filming of Beer League, Artie Lange was arrested for possession of alcohol during the bar scene. However, police promptly released him after he issued the following statement "I'm Artie Lange."

*Tina Fey made a cameo appearance in the film as a favor to her "SNL" co-writer and friend, Frank Sebastiano. She played an employee at the gym and only had one line. In a November 2006 interview on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, she claimed that as a result of taking the one-line part in "Beer League", she was forced to join the Screen Actors Guild, costing her around $1,000.

*In its opening weekend, the film made $302,908 on 164 screens, coming in at #28 at the box office.

*Ione Skye auditioned for the role of Linda.

* Originally scheduled to open on August 11, 2006.

* Artie Lange joked in interviews that Ralph Macchio was cast because "his audition was better than Scott Baio's." However, according to the DVD's audio commentary, Scott Baio did in fact audition for the part of Manganelli. Also, Artie said that he very much enjoyed working with Ralph Macchio and that Macchio helped him get through the more relatively dramatic scenes. Baio was considered for another role but the producers felt it would be "too much" to have two icons of the 1980s in the film.

*On April 9, 2007 Artie announced on the Howard Stern Show that Comedy Central had bought the rights to air the movie and will do so in the Fall.

*On May 21, 2007, Artie said the film was screened at Cannes.

*Parts of Beer League were filmed in Seaside Heights, New Jersey on July 5, 2005, and Pete Smith, the Seaside Heights Director of Public Relations was an extra in the film and appears on the film's box.

*Artie mentioned on December 11, 2005 that his sister and mom are extras in the crowd in the championship game. They can be seen behind the plate in the third row.

*During the championship game, a clear cardboard cut-out of Where's Waldo can be seen in 4 seconds of the frame.

*Parts of Beer League were filmed in Rutherford, New Jersey at Tamblyn field. This is where they are playing some of the softball games.

*The song "Politics" by Zebrahead was slated to be in both the film and on the official soundtrack however was removed from both at the last minute for unknown reasons. "Politics" is however still listed in the film's closing credits.

Cast

External links

* [http://www.beerleaguethemovie.com/ Official site]
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*rotten-tomatoes|id=beer_league|title=Beer League