It's not the crime, it's the cover-up. In small-town, hard-scrabble New Hampshire, foul-mouthed all-talk slacker John "Rugged" Rudgate fancies himself a criminal. When a local plumber stares him down at a pub, Rugged vows revenge, pouring brake fluid in the man's water supply. When the man dies from unrelated causes, Rugged and his side-kick, the even dimmer Jeff, try to cover up what they think i
Live Free is a comedy of vastly diminished criminal expectations. That's the fun of it, and the frustration, too.
– Ty Burr,
Boston Globe,
30 Mar 2007
rotten:
Very much like its hapless lead character, a small-town, small-time hustler who yearns to present himself as a dangerous outlaw, Live Free or Die tries too hard, to little effect.