Oh, I Drink To Dat!

As we roll into the weekend, I thought this topic would be a perfect ending to the work week.  It's time to discuss my favorite Movie Drunks.

Bluto (Animal House 1978)
For those of you who went to college with me, and I apologize if you were one of the unfortunate ones, wouldn't Bluto be a pretty fair comparison to me in my 20's?  There are so many parallels between the two of us--we're both fat, drunk, and stupid,  we both spent 7 years (roughly) in college, we both gave great advice back in college, and in the end, we both ended up with the girl.  Bluto is still a college icon to this day, and a great movie drunk.  As for me, I'm still fat, drunk, and mildly stupid.

Frank "The Tank" (Old School 2003)

In my opinion, Will Ferrell's best roll to date.  Frank just wanted to get married, settle down and then one thing lead to another, and that thing lead to another, which lead to this.  Great movie and great character!

Buttermaker (The Bad News Bears 1976)
Anyone who tops off their can of beer with a shot of Jim Beam is all right in my book!  The late great Walter Matthau drinks so much that he passes out on the mound during batting practice, drinks during little league games, has one of his players, Lupus, make him a martini, serves his players beer, and somehow still remains a loveable character.  Now that is some fete!  Inexplicably, I couldn't find one good movie clip to illustrate my points, but Buttermaker remains one of my favorite drunk characters of all-time.

Willie (Bad Santa 2003)
The man is an utter mess! He reprehensible. He's mean to kids.  He's just a complete asshole!. And he's also one of the funniest movie characters ever created.  I'm not crazy about the movie, but Billy Bob Thornton was superb in this.

Doc Holliday (Tombstone 1993)
Truly one of the greatest acting performances of our generation. Kilmer creates a smooth, playful, suave, yet dangerous character here.  Doc dominates every single scene he's in--it's almost unfair.  He's one of the most quotable movie characters ever, and definitely one of my favorites.  Kilmer was fantastic--the man deserved an Oscar for this one!

Arthur Bach (Arthur 1981)
Could anyone do it better than Dudley Moore as a drunk--he's scary good as Arthur Bach!  Arthur drinks scotch non-stop, which is awfully impressive by itself, but the astonishing thing is that the man still manages to keep his impeccable comedic timing even though he spends most of his day hammered.  Moore was nominated for an Academy Award for this hilarious performance, and Sir John Gielgud took home the statue for Best Supporting Actor.  Definitely, one of my favorite comedies.