DVD reviews: Live Free Or Die Review

From the writers of Seinfeld (well two of them anyway) comes Live Free Or Die, a black comedy about a clueless criminal. Set in dreary small town America, Rugged spends his days forging rebate coupons, selling stolen speakers out of his van and pretending to be a more accomplished criminal than he actually is. Life starts looking up for him when he teams up with the simple-minded Jeff Lagrand who runs the local storage facility he inherited with his sister. Rugged tries to gain equity in their family business through his friendship with Jeff. When the emotionally fragile local cop gets involved everything gets out of control – people get hurt and true personalities are revealed.

Very dry in humour, this comedy plays out well and will appeal to a cynical audience. The Seinfeld influence is definitely apparent in certain plot lines, such as the van with broken brakes that causes big parking problems. The characters are brilliant, with Jeff and his crotch-revealing tracksuit pants a firm favourite. There are lots of funny moments, some of them more deranged than others. The script really is very clever, and the lines are superbly acted.  Live Free Or Die has a lot of personality and is very good at taking the mickey. Special features are missing, which is a real shame.

Live Free Or Die

Format: DVD
From: Warner Brothers
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R16
Sound: 2/5
Vision: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Jeska Innes

This is a web exclusive review.