Live Free or Die

D: Andy Robin & Gregg Kavet; with Aaron Stanford, Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Michael Rapaport, Judah Friedlander, Kevin Dunn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Rugged (Stanford) likes to think he’s a parka-bound Billy the Kid for the great state of New Hampshire, but his scams, laughably, amount to ripping off rebate stickers from Gordon’s gin bottles and trafficking stolen diplomas from the Andover School of Tractor Trailer Trucking. Soon, he hooks up with his dim-witted friend LaGrand (Schneider); their grand plan of a bigger score derails with a dead body, a psychopath alarm-cracker (a terrific Moss-Bachrach), and their terminal ineptitude. Live Free or Die, the feature debut from Emmy-nominated former Seinfeld writers Robin and Kavet, opens and closes zippily, but in between frequently stalls out, and the wannabe-hoodlum antics of Rugged and LaGrand – Dumb and Dumberer for the Granite State – play with diminishing returns. There are laughs, to be sure, but this is the sort of diversion that usually nets audience awards, not the Jury Prize the film scored Tuesday night.

Live Free or Die received the Narrative Jury Award.

7pm, Alamo Downtown

This article appears in March 17 • 2006.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...