At the end of the day, you have to judge a film on its merits. You look at the movie before you, and then you consider the film that it was attempting to be. If it were aiming to be a classic B-grade horror/comedy, did it succeed in striking that delicate balance of tone? If it were trying to capture the spirit of some nostalgic comic book, where does it rank relative to the source material? If it were trying to move you, were you moved? If it told a joke, did you laugh?

There's a four or five-star movie out there for every genre under the sun -- a near-perfect horror film, a drama, a comedy… High marks aren't exclusive to high-brow art films, but they do have to be earned. If you walk away from broader genre fare flummoxed by the inevitable onslaught of mediocre reviews, it's important to remember that entertainment value alone does not equal quality.With that in mind, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is the Godfather of raucous, twenty-something comedies. It's absolutely among the smartest, most well-written, disgusting, hilarious, endearing, offensive and downright best comedies within its genre to date. It takes all the shocking audacity and infinite charm of sophomoric caricatures like Van Wilder or Harold and Kumar and turns them into actual characters -- real human beings whose reprehensible behavior masks actual vulnerability and fear. It works, almost despite itself, on a number of comedic levels, proving that even the basest, most low-brow humor can be elevated by intelligent writing and real, dramatic performances.The story itself, loosely adapted from Tucker Max's book of the same name, is relatively simple…Tucker, a hugely personable, adventure-chasing, narcissist, takes his newly-single, woman-hating companion, Drew, and his soon-to-be-married friend, Dan, on the search for a strip club called Avarice in far-off Salem. Of the three, Dan is certainly the most grounded – a regular guy looking for one last blast before tying the knot. Tucker, capable of charming women with this overwrought confidence and ironic sexism, is made to seem all the more palatable by Drew, who one assumes, at heart, is probably a decent guy, but who is tonight, post break-up, murderously loathing of all womankind.Needless to say, much of the dialogue or behavior in this movie isn't particularly kind toward women, and it is to the film's tremendous credit that the real-life Tucker Max and his co-writer Nils Parker populate the film with strong, independent females who counter, deflate – and sometimes mend -- our heroes at almost every turn. This behavior, which lesser films tend to glorify and even reward, is never without its judgment, whether from each other or from the women they encounter along the way. And that I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is even the slightest bit interested in digging past the sex and sexism to the core of what these characters are emotionally guarding makes it the most mature possible telling of such an immature story.And make no mistake, there's plenty of raunchy hilarity to go around. The film sports some incredibly off-color dialogue which manages to sound both intellectual and clever while being, at the same time, hilariously crass. There's nudity and sex, midgets and deaf chicks, vomit and uncontrollable sh*tting, and for every notion that appears, at first, to cross the line into actual offense, there's a pay-off that either turns it back around on the trio or reveals some dramatic truth about themselves. Actor Matt Czuchry manages to make Tucker likeable even at his most despicable and Jess Bradford deserves equal credit for making Drew so utterly un-likeable so that another character can come along and fix him…And lastly director Bob Gosse manages to strike an incredible balance here, never ascending too far into the heights of drama nor wallowing in the gutters of tastelessness. It's a subtle, skillful turn for the director.Opening in limited release and expanding further depending upon its buzz, one imagines that this film will ultimately find some cult success amongst the college crowd and twenty-somethings regardless of whatever star rating we award it. But critically speaking, this is probably one of best versions of this kind of film you're likely to see for awhile…in Hell, Heaven or wherever else they might serve beer.