The Slammin' Salmon

R

Released Dec 11, 2009

1h 38m

Comedy

List

35%

26 Reviews

Tomatometer

47%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A restaurant owner (Michael Clarke Duncan) pits members of his wait staff against one another in a competition to make the largest amount of cash in one night.

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Critics Consensus

Potty humor and juvenile antics keep this workplace comedy from being particularly funny or memorable.

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Antonio S

This movie is highly underrated. One of the best comedy movies for its time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/24

Full Review

Larry K

Hilarious movie. Michael Clarke Duncan is so funny in this

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/24/23

Full Review

Mr. H

If you like broken lizard, this is a fantastic and fun film. I love it. :)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/10/22

Full Review

Chuck People P

Had never seen this despite being a fan of the group. Thoroughly enjoy it and even tho it's not their best in my book, just as rewatchable as the rest.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/03/22

Full Review

Audience Member

The Broken Lizard full-length feature sandwiched between Beerfest and Super Troopers 2 (the troupe produced a film, Freeloaders, in 2012 with cameos from the group), The Slammin' Salmon doesn't get much attention and I wouldn't be surprised if the average viewer didn't know it existed. Like Waiting, you'll enjoy this movie more if you've worked in a restaurant, even if the gags are completely over-the-top. The movie does a surprisingly nice job of keeping the staff's — six waiters and the manager — plots interesting. However, I would've cut Paul Soter's second character (the new-hire busboy) and just focused on the angry chef character, which had some early screen-time but was largely forgotten throughout the film. Cleon Slammin' Salmon (Michael Clark Duncan), is our ex-heavy-weight champion turned restaurateur-villain. He is verbally and physically abusive to his staff, poor with money, and an overall psychopath — he also has many of the best lines, in which he jumbles words and phrases and becomes irate when he is corrected. "Don't assume. When you assume, you make an asshole outta ya self," (para) is a line friends and I still use. However, many of the best lines come from ancillary characters (a trend I've noticed in not-great comedies), including "I'm the black woman from law and order," and "Twins are disgusting man." Jay Chandrasekhar as "Nuts"/"Zongo" didn't get as much screen-time as I would've liked. Even though his wild, alter-ego (Zongo), was cliché and annoying at first, the character was actually one of the funnier subplots by the end. The Will Forte character as the War and Peace-reading "Lone Diner" is a solid gag, which had to end the way it ended. The Slammin' Salmon isn't up there with Super Troopers, Beerfest, or even Club Dread, but it's an enjoyable isolated-location comedy with enough laughs to merit a watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A slight, blink and you’ll miss it comedy from Broken Lizard. (It played theatrically in NYC in one theater for one week.) It has a good cast, some nice cameos, and a few good laughs, but not much else. Had potential, though.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/08/20

Full Review

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Kevin Heffernan

Director

Michael Clarke Duncan

Cleon "Slammin" Salmon

Jay Chandrasekhar

Nuts

Kevin Heffernan

Rich

Paul Soter

Donnie

Steve Lemme

Connor

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Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

Thirteen-year-old boys big enough to sneak into R-rated movies are presumably the prime audience for this witless comedy from the Broken Lizard troupe.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 11, 2009

Full Review

Neil Genzlinger

New York Times

It has its share of funny moments. But it also has its share of tired ones.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 11, 2009

Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

Much of the film's humor hovers around crotch level. If jokes about mental illness, terminal disease and sex with orangutans sound funny to you, go for it.

Rated: 2/4

Dec 11, 2009

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...sporadically funny yet hopelessly uneven...

Rated: 2/4

Aug 12, 2010

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

MSN.com

... a warmed-over blend of bathroom humor, backstabbing shenanigans and humiliation.

Apr 18, 2010

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Common Sense Media

The ensemble cast is fresh-faced and ready to embarrass themselves with an endless string of vulgar, profanity-filled, and sex-related dialogue, even if they aren't quite ready to deal with adult relationships or emotions.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 16, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

A restaurant owner (Michael Clarke Duncan) pits members of his wait staff against one another in a competition to make the largest amount of cash in one night.

Director: Kevin Heffernan
Producer: Julia Dray
Screenwriter: Jay Chandrasekhar
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Production Co: Broken Lizard Productions
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Sexual References)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 11, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 28, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $41.6K
Runtime: 1h 38m

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