Broken Lizard, the comedy group goes medieval with a raunchy and hilarious take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Quasi is a poor, ugly and hapless man unlucky enough to be in a tight corner. Ruthless King of France celebrates his most recent marriage to an English bride, which gives him the chance to kill the Pope. Quasi turns out to be the disposable tool that will help him accomplish his mission. To complicate things even more, he is assigned by the Pope himself to kill the monarch he hates most. This film is also funny in its derision of bigotry, sexism and religion speaking through clever dialogues; it touches us as well as we see Quasi find for himself an unlikely love interest who coincidentally also becomes his ally.
Quasimoto hobbles towards work at the castle where he’s a torturer (Steve Lemme). He’s laughed at and shit thrown at him just like always. “At what age does this stuff get old?” muses Duchamp (Kevin Heffernan), rooming with Quasi in their humble abode. On reaching the torture chamber, more insults are hurled around than any other place in town. Although they taunt him, Quasi pays no attention while doing up his masterpiece because this entire crowd has been waiting eagerly since forever for his new invention – “The Stretching Rack”. Michel (Erik Stolhanske), local cook, cannot wait to have his turn on that stretching rack.
In anticipation for an upcoming lottery draw King Guy (Jay Chandrasekhar) enters into a gathering of peasants within a courtyard palace. The prize offers dinner with the sitting couple and this fantastic opportunity entices everyone present there including little children playing around their mothers’ skirts and beggars lying prostrate between them. Queen Catherine (Adrianne Palicki) who is compassionate and smart has some brave ideas about how to relieve the suffering of her people. The king and his advisors think she is a fool, however, who should leave important matters to men who are capable enough and concentrate on her so-called lesser station.
For five tickets Duchamp paid . Quasi doesn’t care at all. Nothing good ever happens to him. Here is one, pityingly given by Duchamp, who refuses to be called Quasi’s best friend. They were completely surprised when Quasi won the lottery! At dinner, he happily slurps down oysters. He wins over the queen with his personality and quick wit. She overhears the King tell Pope Paul Soter how he plans on killing him during dinner one night. After performing this task poor hunchback will be executed for it by the queen herself; she decides not to let that happen.
Quasimodo holds his head high in spite of everything wrong happening around him (Steve Lemme). However, unlike every other person out there, he has never been angry or bitter; he just desires to be loved like others do also but in vain. It makes you want him to win because the film succeeds through its characterization of this man. This behavior is truly sickening; no one should ever hate another due to their birth defects – Broken Lizard illustrates such stupidity with biting humour, thus showing those characters as jerks.
The movie does a thoughtful satire on organized religion too (Lemme 3). He’s just as selfish and power-hungry as King Guy; only difference being that he uses his title for personal reasons rather than political ones. This fear of eternal damnation keeps them in line also since their lives blow chunks so badly they can barely comprehend such an alternative option…all done with deliberate caution not too offend true believers though because they are really good guys after all (R). Indeed these two antagonists easily emerge from many sides of moral ambiguity especially towards the end.
It is not all wicked double entendres and sharp satire, Broken Lizard fans may rest assured. Quasi has plenty of dirty jokes and childish visual humor that will make you split your sides laughing. The torture rack hook-up scene is full of hilarious antics and the love between Quasimodo and the Queen is just a blast.
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