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No, they're not nearly all that they can be

In Delta Farce, Larry the Cable Guy and company spend 89 minutes mocking the Army, U.S. policy in Iraq, and Mexicans. But for the closing credits, they dedicate the movie to the "real heroes" in the U.S. Armed Forces.

In

Delta Farce

, Larry the Cable Guy and company spend 89 minutes mocking the Army, U.S. policy in Iraq, and Mexicans. But for the closing credits, they dedicate the movie to the "real heroes" in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Talk about your "jus' kiddin', y'all."

The movie even takes a veiled shot at the commander in chief. Larry looks through binoculars that still have the lens caps on, mimicking a famous image of you-know-who from the last campaign.

"And he's in charge?"

As service comedies go, Delta Farce is more idiotic than most. Homophobic? Sure. Often. Maybe even a little racist.

"Why were there only 3,000 Mexicans at the Alamo? 'Cuz they could only find four trucks!"

But that's after they've figured out they're not in Eye-raq.

The story: Georgia "weekend warriors" are shipped off to Iraq and somehow, between Georgia and Fallujah, the plane dumps them in Mexico.

They're supposed to be, an officer lectures them, "the best and the brightest." Larry - real name Dan Whitney - along with his less-amusing pal Bill Engvall and their Blue Collar Comedy director C.B. Harding, aand that walking sight gag DJ Qualls, try to wring a few laughs out of incompetent soldiers who accidentally invade rural Mexico and find themselves caught up in The Magnificent Seven, drinking Modelo Especial and saving the locals from banditos.

The leader of the terror gang, "Carlos Santana," a.k.a. El Jefe, is played with liberating gusto by veteran bandito Danny Trejo. He sings "I Will Survive" karaoke. He handles his punch lines with flair, especially Larry's frequent cracks about "What we got here is a Mexican stand-off!"

"Uh, gringo, down here we just call it a 'stand-off.' "

Trejo and the sputtering Keith David, as the tough-as-a-tin-roof sergeant trapped in Mexico with "the boys," are the best things in the movie.

There's a Mexican wrestling riff, a bit with stand-up comic Jeff Dunham (the "how many Mexicans" jokes come from him), and a shoot-out or two.

Not many laughs, though.

How're you going to "git'r done" if these are your "best and the brightest"?

Delta Farce * (out of four stars)

Directed by C.B. Harding. With Larry the Cable Guy, DJ Qualls, Bill Engvall. Distributed by Lions Gate Films.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 mins.

Parent's guide: PG-13 (crude, sexual humor)

Playing at: area theaters

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