Reviews

Live Free or Die

New Hampshire deserves better than this

By TOM MEEK | March 28, 2007

2.0 Stars

Live Free or Die

Seinfeld writers Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin conceived this project as a TV series, which is where it should have stayed. The backwoods setting and the bungling pair of Class A screw-ups call to mind Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket by way of the Anne Heche TV series Men in Trees. The boonies here are a working-class podunk in New Hampshire (hence the title), where going-nowhere slacker John “Rugged” Rudgate (Aaron Stanford, Pyro in the X-Men series) reinvents himself as a bad-ass hood. No one buys his delusional shtick except for Jeff Lagrand (Paul Schneider), an oafish fem fop who spent time in special ed — basically Kramer on valium. The George-and-Lenny tandem concoct a battery of petty get-rich schemes, all of which backfire. Along the way a few folks die “comical deaths.” None of it’s funny, and that includes Rudgate’s My Name Is Earl chest beating. Kevin Dunn hits the mark as the police chief; Zooey Deschanel wastes her time as Lagrand’s sister.

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Media, Television, More

| More

view all

[ 06/02 ] Always, Patsy Cline @ Ogunquit Playhouse

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.