Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

A friend of mine recently recommended Eastbound & Down because he knows I am a fan of Danny McBride's crazy sense of humor. The first season of this incredibly rude and crude show came out on HBO and is now available on home video. If you saw McBride in The Foot Fist Way, he's playing basically the same kind of character, but this time with a mullet.

Danny McBride plays Kenny Powers, a washed-up former pro baseball player who still thinks he's the champ and everyone else sucks. He reminds most everyone of this every time he speaks. With his potty mouth and superiority complex, topped off with a curly mullet hairdo, this guy is 100% white trash loser. You'll love to hate him, and that is the point.

Since the major leagues don't want him anymore and his star power is all but gone, Powers is next to broke and winds up living in a spare bedroom with his brother and family. His brother is a decent guy with a wife and two kids, and so Powers doesn't exactly fit in with them. He still can't let go of the fact that he's not as big and famous as he used to be. Things start to look up when he finally accepts a job as a high school P.E. teacher.

Part of the reason why Powers took the job at the school was to try and hook up with an old flame played by the gorgeous Katy Mixon. She's a teacher there at the school, but the only problem is that she is engaged to be married...to the principal of the school! Powers spends the whole season of this show doing everything he can to get Mixon's character to ditch the principal, while at the same time trying to do his own self promotion on the sides.

What's so funny about this show is McBride's unforgiving performance. He handles every situation in the worst possible way and never lets his ego have a moment of doubt. He's such a complete and total bastard in everything he does that you get a laugh out of his behavior. In some ways, he acts the way that we all wish we could if there were no consequences. Screw personal responsibility. Screw being nice. Just do what you want. Powers exemplifies the kind of person we've all probably met at work or in some capacity, but he takes it to a comical extreme.

This season consists of six half-hour episodes. Most of them were directed by Jody Hill, who also wrote and directed Danny McBride's breakthrough movie called The Foot Fist Way, where he plays an ego-driven martial arts instructor. David Gordon Green, who just recently directed Pineapple Express, which also stars McBride in a minor role, did three episodes. Adam McKay, who directed Step Brothers and Talladega Nights, also did two episodes. Will Ferrell has a cameo role in a couple of episodes, and he's also an executive producer on the show. Have you noticed how almost every comedy made in the past few years has involved at least one of about a dozen of the same people over and over again?

The season ends on what may or may not be considered a cliffhanger. I won't spoil the details of what happened, suffice to say it could serve as an ending to the series, or it could pave the way for a whole new season. The fact that it works so well both ways is a nod to the writers. Given the train wreck that is Kenny Powers, the season ender is perfect should they choose to continue his story or not.

Because of the graphic language and content, Eastbound & Down is certainly not for everyone. If you can stomach all the profanity and rude behavior, it winds up being a pretty funny but tragic show about somebody so easy to hate that it's delightful when things don't go his way, which is about 9/10's of the time. I do hope there is a Season Two.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age