Lady Ballers

Watched Lady Ballers this morning. It's available only on Daily Wire+. The movie reminds me of comedies from the 80's or 90's; silly and irreverent. No nudity, but there are some racy jokes about body parts and bedroom acts.

Jeremy Boreing plays the head coach of a men's basketball team who all decide to identify as female to win a women's tournament. The jokes practically write themselves. To be honest, some land and some don't. Enough land, however, to rank LB at 7/10.

Matt Walsh playing against type as "Kris" the hippie was delightful. Couldn't stop laughing whenever he was on screen. And, the actress who plays coach's daughter is very sweet. She steals the opening scene.

What I didn't expect to be so wow-ed by was the musical score and beautiful drone shots of Nashville. The opening theme song is earnest and oh-so cheesy; a la American Flyers. Love it! There were lots of musical changes of pace, too, like the switch to an old-worldy accordion tune for the scene where coach is getting roughly handled by the dominatrix reporter. "Furnace burn!"

I've also got some quibbles. For example, the final, fade-to-black image was totally unrelated to the rest the movie. Just oddly edited. Also, the players were too often either fighting or high fiving. That got old quick; as if dudes can't just sit and chill without punching each other.

Overall, it was fun.

I lean conservative, I'd like to think too that I'm a realist. This movie, realistically does not deserve the high ratings.

The acting, on the whole, is just a titch above high school play level. The story was low IQ level. The jokes not fresh or funny. The pace veeeery slow.

Camera and cinematography was perhaps the best part of the movie.

I just did not find this entertaining.

The whole thing kinda reminds me of when a bunch of guys get together and laugh at farts or when one of their buddies accidently hurts themselves.

Moronic. Boring. Idiotic. Slow.

But then again I'm not a guy, or stuck in high school brain zone.

Ladyballers exceeded expectations. I expected a very pointed message with some weak comedy and production flaws.

The Daily Wire probably can't get many Hollywood actors onto a project b/c the actors would be afraid of backlash, even if the film had no political leanings--but still, they managed to find some good talent. Jeremy Boreing and Billie Rae Brandt both have star-quality. Fischer and Cone also great, but really the whole team worked. I was looking for weak links in the cast and didn't find any.

The cameos were okay, not bad. The best being B. Cooper and M. Knowles as the news anchors. Their arc was hilarious and their delivery was perfect. And quite fearless with the costumes, I love that.

The humor landed pretty well, some parts better than others. Most comedies are like this. I didn't find the "how much" guy very funny. I loved the badger stuff, that made me laugh pretty hard. I also enjoyed all the shots they're taking at the journalist class. That's long overdue. The Jeremy's razor commercial in the middle of the movie was very funny, pulled off in just the right way.

And obviously the satire's message is spot on. Everybody knows these things are true, everybody knows the emperor is naked, but everyone's afraid to speak up.

Satire isn't just preaching. There are definitely some preachy moments in the movie (and I didn't mind them probably b/c I agree with the sentiments), but this still works as satire b/c the ideas are embodied well by the story on the whole.

It also had better production value than I was expecting. They definitely dropped some money on all the extras in the last game. The score/soundtrack was a highlight, very good music, which is important. The tone was consistent. The cinematic elements were all competent. Lighting was good. I'm not a fan of the murky "realistic" lighting movies are obsessed with now. Just make it look good.

And the end delivered. It was perfect to see the lady ballers get their comeuppance and get a taste of their own medicine. I loved how they worked in the coach giving "inspirational" speech trope and played with it in various ways.

And I liked how genuinely heartwarming the ending was with the little girls team. The old comedies usually try to pull some heart-strings in the end and typically fail, but here it definitely worked. The father-daughter relationship was very lovely.

I expected a movie I would be a little amused with and probably have to endure, but we ended up enjoying it thoroughly and we didn't interrupt watching it once.

I'd give the humor a B+. The heart/feeling an A-.

And the satire an A.

Look, I'm not gonna come in and give it a 10/10. It's no Baseketball or Dodgeball, but it's got some genuinely funny jokes. More than a few times I had genuine hardy laughs. There's a few times it gets sincere and those parts are great. The ending is a little weak, but there's not a lot they could do with it and still is wrapped up pretty well. My least favorite part is a shameless ad thrown in which got a smile, but moreover a deep rolling of my eyes. They hit the audience with a lot of very true statistics, (just because you don't like what you hear doesn't make it propaganda). For their first attempt at a comedy this was pretty good, and makes me look forward to more from the DW. In a world where Hollywood is too afraid to make a decent comedy for fear of offending even one person this was refreshing. Like a glass of water in the desert. Maybe not an ice cold glass of water, but still very refreshing,

"Lady Ballers" was a film I approached with some anticipation, given its intriguing premise. However, I found it to be disappointingly shallow and pedantic. The acting across the board was underwhelming, contributing to the film's overall lack of depth and engagement.

A critical drawback of the movie was its humor, or the lack thereof. The jokes felt forced and failed to elicit the intended laughter, detracting from the viewing experience. This issue could partly be attributed to the script, which seemed to need more refinement. The potential for a successful comedy was there, but it required a sharper and more experienced comedic writer to bring it to life.

The film appeared to serve more as a vehicle for promoting Jeremy Boreing's businesses than as a piece of entertainment. This focus undermined the story's authenticity and the characters' relatability.

Tyler Fischer's presence in the film was a lone bright spot. His natural comedic talent shone through, despite the limitations of his role. Fischer's performance gives me hope for his future projects, as he clearly has the potential to excel with better material.

In conclusion, "Lady Ballers" misses the mark in several key areas, making it a less than satisfying watch. The concept was promising but was let down by lackluster execution and a script in need of a few more rewrites. It's a 4 out of 10 for me, primarily saved from a lower score by Fischer's brief moments of comedic relief.