by Patrice Downing, Contributing Writer
Let me just start out by saying that Quasi did not disappoint… of course, that has a lot to do with setting very low expectations in the first place, but hear me out. When I heard the team from Broken Lizard (you remember, the guys responsible for Super Troopers) was coming back together to do a period comedy based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I pretty much knew what to expect. I figured something along the lines of Robin Hood: Men in Tights or Dracula: Dead and Loving It. It wasn’t going to reach Airplane! or Top Secret! levels of humor, but would certainly be better than Not Another spoofs. And you know what? That’s pretty much what I got. Quasi is surprisingly subtle in delivery, and with a lower percentage of toilet-based humor (thank goodness!) than I expected from a medieval period satire based on a bizarre, Belon bivalve loving, bantering, bell-ringing, bro.
It starts out with the quintessential ye olde open storybook, flipping pages of exposition, accompanied by some off kilter narration by the legendary Brian Cox. While most may know him best for his work on Succession, I’ve been a fan since first seeing him in the role of Daphne’s ludicrous lush of a father, Harry Moon, in Frasier. With a strong opening from Cox, I admit, I did expect to see more well known pop-ins throughout the film, which never materializes, but it may be for the best. Rather than relying on stunt casting and cameos, the core cast of the central five (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske) play dual (or should I say deux) roles, and with the welcome addition of Adrianne Palicki, there is definitely not a shortage of talent. No one actor really stands out as stealing the show, because everyone involved seems to understand what movie they’re in (might have something to do with the farcical five actually doing not double, but trois, duty, as they serve as writers), and they work well together to elevate the material. The entire cast plays well off each other (and themselves at times), and while the characters are meant to be exaggerated, the performances come across as grounded, and no one appears to be playing over, over the top.
Language also plays a major role in fueling giggles throughout this ridiculous romp. While it would have been easy to just have everyone speak in corny French accents, they use the language more sparingly, resulting in some of the bigger laughs. The simple retorts of oui, non, Mon Dieu, and merdi, paired with other lingual wordplay kept me laughing constantly. Pretty sure douche baguette is my new favorite insult. There’s an exchange early on, reminiscent of the “moew” and “liter of cola” gags from Super Troopers, that wouldn’t have half the humorous impact if the entire conversation had been accented in French, but is instead punctuated with it.
Okay, at this point, you might be thinking overall I’ve been pretty vague about the plot, and void of any real specifics, and I have a good reason. You’re probably not going to get any huge, belly buster laughs out of Quasi, but I don’t want to ruin the ones you do get, because so much of the humor is situational. For example, there is a scene in a tavern where the patrons sing a song for Quasi (Lemme), expecting a drinking ditty; what we get is not even close, and while I guarantee you know this fanciful French tune, when they all start belting it out, it’s absolutely hilarious. I will say there is a refreshing lack of poop jokes, and with the exception of one scene that focuses on somewhat graphic scrotal humor (think the frank and beans scenes from There’s Something About Mary), the humor evolves more from the absurdity of the requests, reactions, and replies, over showing you something dumb to laugh at. The post-credits include a deleted scene being filmed while a horse starts dropping road apples directly behind Palicki delivering lines. A lesser movie would have kept it in and gone for the low hanging fruit of a visual dung joke, but it doesn’t, and I appreciate this approach as it adds a rewatchability factor to an already fatuous flick.
Overall, Quasi is a fun time I can see flipping on again here and there. It has an original story, interesting characters, fun dialogue and surprisingly well-done settings and costuming. The cast is clearly having a good time just being together and it shines through in the performances. If you need a break from reality, and just want to laugh or turn off your brain for a bit, meow is the time to give Quasi a chance.
Score: 5/10
Quasi is currently streaming on Hulu
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