Beer Wars

Beer Wars, which promises a “no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry,” often feels instead like a commercial for the American microbrewery subsector, while advancing its central argument that industry monoliths Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors ruthlessly dominate and are eager to hamper smaller competitors (the film was shot prior to the 2008 merger of Miller and Coors). Delaware-based microbrewer Sam Calagione and Rhonda Kallman, who co-founded The Boston Beer Company, which makes Samuel Adams, are presented here as beer-brewing Davids challenging the corporate Goliaths. Microbrew fans, of course, agree that microbrewery beer is better—although that favoritism likely has more to do with taste than beer industry politics. Unfortunately, filmmaker Anat Baron's repeated presence in Beer Wars turns this purported investigative documentary into something more closely resembling a glorified home movie. Admittedly, Baron has the credentials to report on the subject—a former general manager of Mike's Hard Lemonade, Baron has also had plenty of firsthand experience in dealing with Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. But the film isn't helped by cutesy animated sequences about how Baron escaped from corporate America (via an ejection seat, no less!) or footage of her socializing with former associates and rivals at a beer industry function. Overlong and often unfocused, Beer Wars is an optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)