Artie Lange s Beer League (also known simply as Beer League) is a 2006 American comedy film written and produced by, and starring, Artie Lange. It was released in select theaters on September 15, 2006 in the New Jersey, New York, Cleveland, and Philadelphia areas.

As of 2022, Beer League remains Lange s only lead role in a film.

Plot

Artie DeVanzo (Artie Lange) is an unemployed town drunk who plays softball with his buddies Maz (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (Jimmy Palumbo) for Ed s Bar and Swill. Their arch-rival is Manganelli Fitness, led by Dennis Manganelli (Anthony DeSando). After the teams brawl during the first game of the year, the town s police chief decides whichever team finishes best in the league that season can still play in the league, and whichever team loses is out for good.

Artie lives at home with his mother (Laurie Metcalf) and can never hold a job or a girlfriend for very long. After a night out with his pals, he ends up at a diner for late night food, where he sees old flame Linda Salvo (Cara Buono) out with her friends. Artie abandons his friends and starts some small talk with Linda, which results in a one-night stand. At first Linda is disgusted and annoyed that she let herself fall into another meaningless encounter, but Artie decides to actually try to attempt a more meaningful relationship with her.

The Ed s team, traditionally a league doormat, decides to actually practice in an attempt to beat out Manganelli and stay in the league. The regular season is highlighted by Maz s bachelor party and wedding, and Johnny s attempt to bat .700 for the year.

The team charges up the standings to qualify for the championship game against the four-time defending champions from Manganelli Fitness. However, Dirt , Ed s Bar and Swill s team pitcher, collapses and dies from a heart attack at practice in the days leading up to the championship. After the funeral, the rest of the team drinks heavily in homage to Dirt before they play in the championship game scheduled for that afternoon.

Manganelli s team quickly builds a 10–0 lead over their inebriated opponents, and that remains the score heading into the final inning of the game. After two outs, the season rests on Artie s shoulders.

Artie proceeds to launch a Manganelli pitch over the fence in left field for a solo home run, an incredibly rare feat that nobody in the league has done since 89 . That shot only makes the score 10–1, but Ed s Bar and Swill comes to life and bats around the lineup in the inning, bringing Artie back to the plate, now with the bases loaded and the score 10–6, though still with two outs.

Artie hits the ball to right field, where nobody is stationed because Manganelli has his fielders playing the DeVanzo Shift ; completely dead-pull. All three baserunners come home, and as the ball is thrown away, Artie races home in an attempt to tie the score. He and Manganelli have a collision at the plate, but Manganelli hangs on to the ball for the final out and a 10–9 victory.

After the game ends, however, Artie keeps his vow of not letting Manganelli have the championship trophy, stealing it during the postgame awards ceremony and driving off down Route 3 past Giants Stadium, heading for the Jersey Shore with Linda, talking about other leagues in other towns and how he can still play in them.

Cast

• Artie Lange as Artie DeVanzo
• Ralph Macchio as Maz
• Anthony DeSando as Dennis Manganelli
• Cara Buono as Linda Salvo
• Jimmy Palumbo as Johnny Trinno
• Joe Lo Truglio as Dave
• Jerry Minor as Tim
• Seymour Cassel as Dirt
• Michael Deeg as Alfonse
• Maddie Corman as Marilyn
• Matthew Gumley as Tommy
• Jim Florentine as Crispino
• Mary Birdsong as Rhonda
• Laurie Metcalf as Mrs. DeVanzo
• Louis Lombardi as Police Chief Gugliamino
• Jim Breuer as Football Guy
• Todd Barry as Creepy Guy down by the shore
• Tina Fey as Gym Secretary
• Keisha as The Pitching Machine
• Elizabeth Regen as Gina
• Nick DiPaolo as Cousin Mickey

Reception

The film was a box office failure. Figures from Box Office Mojo show the film was only released in 164 theaters for 14 days, with an opening weekend gross of $302,908, and a total domestic gross of $472,185.

The film received mostly negative reviews. It holds a 27% Rotten rating at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews. Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com, called the film, whole lot of lewd potty humor that doesn t really add up to anything substantial, a guilty pleasure of sorts when taken in small bursts, but which grows somewhat tiresome in the long run . Critic Richard Roeper gave one of the four positive reviews, saying, Beer League is raunchy and tacky, but it s a hell of a lot funnier than something like Failure To Launch . Another positive review was from Brian Orndorf of eFilmCritic.com: Beer League is not for tender ears, but more for the beer-bellied, rascally rule breaker in all of us, and most importantly, there s a great chance something in here will make you laugh .

Year	2006
ReleaseDate	2006-09-15
RuntimeMins	86
RuntimeStr	1h 26min
Plot	An unemployed slacker inspires his softball teammates to improve their game so they won’t get kicked out of the local league.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 1 nomination
Directors	Frank Sebastiano
Writers	Frank Sebastiano, Artie Lange
Stars	Artie Lange, Ralph Macchio, Anthony DeSando
Produced by	Steven Angel,Brian Bell,Gregory Cohen,Jeremy Dallow,Jim DiLorenzo,Lisa Fielding,Jonathan Ross Gilbert,Artie Lange,Anthony Mastromauro,Chris Messalas
Music by	BC Smith
Cinematography by	David Phillips
Film Editing by	Peter Fandetti
Casting By	Laylee Olfat,Lina Todd
Production Design by	Kelly McGehee
Set Decoration by	Sarah Maine
Costume Design by	Nancy Brous
Makeup Department	Brian Abbott,Amanda Ross
Production Management	Gigi Causey,Adam Park
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Thomas Fatone,Patrick D. Gibbons,Kim Thompson
Art Department	Sarah Berney,Anna Butwell,Melissa Miller Costanzo,Jae Song
Sound Department	Peter Bergren,Adam DeCoster,Scott Edelson,Chris M. Jacobson,William Levins,Greg Mauer,Kelly Vandever,Thomas Varga,Wade Wilson,Scott Wolf,Marti D. Humphrey
Special Effects by	Neil Ruddy
Stunts	Jared Burke,Douglas Crosby,Mike Ganim,Tim Lajcik,Erik Martin,Shawnna Thibodeau,Patrick M. Walsh
Camera and Electrical Department	David E. Baron,Wesley Battle,Ian Carmody,Julian J. Delacruz,Leighton Edmondson,John Frisbie,Adam Hall,John Keating,Ron Morales,Christopher T. Paul,Charles Sherron,Ken Shibata,Perry Unjang,Lee Vickery,Greg Wimer,Yueni Zander
Casting Department	Sharon Blythe,Lori Eastside
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Carlos Medeiros,Matthew Simonelli,Laura Steinman
Editorial Department	David Hamme,James Renfroe,Robb Sullivan,Ralph Tarr
Location Management	Nate Braeuer,Ronnie Kupferwasser,Brendan O Rourke
Music Department	Tim Boyle,Brett Pierce,Bryon Rickerson,Robin Urdang
Script and Continuity Department	Sharon Watt
Additional Crew	Mina Adibpour,Brian Baum,Eleanor Burke,Rob Coleman,Anthony DeFrancesco,Anne Marie Dentici,Benjamin Feuer,Andrew Fiero,Alex Gabucci,Brendan Kissane,Matt Maisto,Jason Messeri,Susan T. Parsons,Kevin Pazmino,Joe Proietto,Jennifer Roberts,Aaron Rosenberg,Jimothy Sekelsky,Lisa Simon,Danielle Wilson
Thanks	Steve Alexander,Paul Almond,Brian Bell,Jude Brennan,Kay Cannon,Rick Chesky,Herman Eng,Tina Fey,Lisa Fielding,Greg Fitzsimmons,Tom Gianas,David Goldstein,Steven Gorelick,Andrew Graham,Joe Herrera,Jared Hoffman,Ray James,Tim Jennings,Louis Katz,Larry Kopeikin,Steve Koren,Artie Lange Sr.,Judy Lange,Stacey Lange,David Letterman,Salamo Levin,Jared Levine,Rosalind Lichter,Robert Lieberman,Steve Lookner,Dina Mastromauro,John Mastromauro,Michael Mastromauro,Rasika Mathur,Chris McGuire,Brendan McLoughlin,Lorne Michaels,Margaret Miraglia,Matthew Muzio,Artie Palumbo,Luigi Piccolino,Peter Principato,David Quinn,Jennifer Quinn,Pat Quinn,Herb Rhim,Aaron Rosenberg,Gloria Sanchez,David W. Schoner Jr.,T. Sean Shannon,Frank Sebastiano Sr.,Christian Sebastiano,Elizabeth Sebastiano,Jennifer Sebastiano,Justin Sebastiano,Nicole Sebastiano,Rachel Sheedy,Bill Sheft,James Signorelli,Sam Simon,Dana Sironi,Ratso Sloman,Howard Stern,Jeffrey Wolf,Karen Wu,Jason Young,Steve Young,Jay Zinna
Genres	Comedy, Sport
Companies	CKRush Entertainment, Beer League Holdings, Identity Films
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	5.9
ImDbRatingVotes	8102
MetacriticRating	40
Keywords	adult son lives with his mother,adult child lives with mother,softball,baseball,beer