Broken Lizard presents a tale from medieval France with Quasi. Quasi (Steve Lemme) is a lonely hunchback who works in the torture chamber of King Guy (Jay Chandrasekhar) with his best friend Duchamp (Kevin Heffernan), where they stretch aspiring chef Michel (Erik Stolhanske) on the torture rack. Ahead of Pope Cornelius' (Paul Soter) visit, Quasi wins the lottery to gain an audience with the pontiff. This ends up putting Quasi in the middle of a plot by the King to murder the Pope (and vice versa). However, Quasi also gains the attraction of Queen Catherine (Adrianne Palicki), who senses a natural leadership ability in the hunchback.
Quasi Synopsis
Quasi is the latest film from the comedy troupe Broken Lizard (Super Troopers, Beerfest) and the sophomore directorial effort of member Kevin Hefferman (The Slammin' Salmon). As told by the bookending narrator (Brian Cox), the film is purportedly the true story of Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Each of the five Broken Lizard members plays multiple roles in this story of the lonely titular hunchback, who finds himself trapped in the middle of a plot by the King and Pope to kill each other. However, despite his deformed appearance, Quasi proves to be a natural leader who puts everything on the line to save his friends.
My Thoughts on Quasi
It has been over two decades since Broken Lizard gained a cult following for their 2001 sophomore feature Super Troopers, of which a long-in-development sequel was finally released five years ago. However, despite their cult following, the films of Broken Lizard have never been big box office draws. It is probably no real surprise that their latest film Quasi is foregoing a theatrical release to go straight to streaming.
Quasi is probably the closest Broken Lizard has gotten to mimicking the films of Monty Python. This includes how each member of the comedy troupe plays at least two characters in the movie; for instance, Steve Lemme plays both the titular lead and King Guy's ever-suffering court jester. Unlike Monty Python, Broken Lizard's style of comedy is decidedly cruder, including a gross-out sight gag in the third act that cannot be unseen. However, the film does feature a few funny recurring jokes, such as torture rack victim Michel steadily getting taller or Quasi barely noticing a bleeding stab wound on his hump.
At this point, it can probably be said that the films of Broken Lizard are primarily for their cult fanbase and not much else. Quasi‘s release date of 4/20 is perhaps hinting at how the film should be consumed. That being a film enjoyed while on various substances.
