Balls of Fury - Palle in gioco

Not the greatest comedy of the summer, but it had its fair share of laughs. Some of the situations were pretty amusing and some of the lines were laugh-out-loud funny.

Christopher Walken seems to always make the best out of his roles, whatever he's given, he makes it his own. And this is no exception. The script wasn't rolling on the floor funny, but it had its moments. This would qualify as a good choice for a matinée-priced movie, I'd say.

As an aside, I don't know WHY ON EARTH that African American lady who played Christopher Walken's female henchman keeps getting roles (she played Jennifer Love Hewitt's antique shop partner for a while and stunk in that role too).

Taxi. The Pacifier. Herbie Fully Loaded. Let's Go to Prison. Night at the Museum. If this list of movies is an accurate representation of your DVD collection, then my friends, you either have a young child in the house or a strange fetish for average-to-below average comedies. Or "absolutely dreadful" in the case of Jimmy Fallon's Taxi. *shudders* I'm still trying to erase memories of that steamer from my mind.

Other than being part of the aforementioned pathetically sad DVD collection, do you know what else each of these movies has in common? They're all written by Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, the duo who wrote, produced, and directed Balls of Fury. Are you trying to decide whether or not this is a film worthy of your time and money? Please let my above revelation stand as "enough said."

In all honesty, what can you expect when you take a poor man's Jack Black and give him the starring role in a poor man's Dodgeball? A little thing I like to refer to as "not much." Dan Fogler gives it the ol' college try, but perhaps the material is to blame for his mostly forgettable performance. He delivers a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but by the time he's lip-synching to Def Leppard you'll be asking yourself, "So who's this guy, and why is he doing a bad karaoke impersonation of 'Jack Black Meets Sam Kinison'?"

I will give Balls of Fury three credits - 1) Maggie Q is adorable, 2) The film rightfully never takes itself too seriously, and 3) It's nowhere near as filthy as I expected. At the top of my notebook I wrote, "Balls/Genitalia References" and I was set to keep track. I just knew they were going to fly off the screen fast and furious, especially judging by the "a huge comedy with tiny balls" tagline. So I was quite shocked when the grand total was only one, and that one was merely Maggie Q's character disgustedly relaying an example of the comments she was forced to deal with from male players.

What more can I say about a film whose crowning achievement is, "Well, I didn't expect much, and it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, so whatever"? That certainly doesn't send you rushing to purchase a ticket, now does it? It'll be on TNT or TBS soon enough so just have patience and watch a few legitimately good comedies in the interim. There'll come a time when you're flipping channels, nothing else is on, and you'll cruise across this. You can decide then whether you want to sit through all of it. The end result will likely be a long email thanking me for saving you $8.

Before I commence, let me once again bring attention to my above "poor man's Dodgeball" quote. I overheard several disappointed people say, "I thought it'd be like Dodgeball." What's that? Yeah, they said it in unison, Wisenheimer. Now shut up. The consensus? It's not even close. So if that was the opinion you formed after watching the trailer then dismiss that notion immediately. It's an interesting concept that probably contains about ten minutes of solid comedic material.

What ultimately happens when you stretch that over an hour and a half? Unfortunately, the jokes suffer from what I like to call the "Kate Moss, Heather Mills McCartney, and post-2000 Muhammad Ali Syndrome." In other words, they're flat, lame, and they pack no punch. Let's see them put THAT on the DVD cover.

For the most part, "Balls of Fury" is an excuse to be silly. It could just as easily star Adam Sandler. Clearly the point of the movie is just to have a good time, and the cast is certainly doing that every step of the way. It's not rip-snorting humor by any stretch, but definitely a good way to enjoy oneself for two hours if there's nothing else to do. As can be expected, Christopher Walken is the best character in the flick. His role reminded me of Han in "Enter the Dragon" (or any James Bond villain, for that matter).

So, if you just want to laugh at something completely ridiculous for a while, this is the movie for you. Like "A Night at the Roxbury" and "Dude, Where's My Car?", it proves that movies can be funny and stupid at the same time.

I laughed at this movie. I laughed a LOT. True, some of the laughs were simply because some people were in this movie that had NO BUSINESS being in it, because they are considered to belong to a higher echelon of movies. Christopher Walken and Maggie Q are usually seen in LARGE blockbusters or high-profile indies; George Lopez has a very successful TV series, not to mention MANY cameos from well-known comedic actors. These people are GOOD. When they are on the screen, funny stuff happens. The script is an obvious parody on the movie "Enter The Dragon", but with ping-pong in lieu of kung-fu or karate. It also spoofs the "underdog" motif like the "Rocky" movies. I dunno, all I can say is that I REALLY enjoyed this movie. I didn't expect much, and I got a lot back because of that. True, I was a little liquored up, and a second sober viewing might not pay off repeat dividends, but I had a good time. Isn't that really what it's all about? Honestly, it ain't Citizen Kane, but I've seen crappier movies... a contemporary comparison: I was NOT disappointed by this movie, and comparatively much more disappointed with the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie...

Yaaarrrr, thar be worse things under the sun, matey...

Amusing comedy staring Dan Folger who won a Tony for the 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. The film concerns a Ping Pong Tournament run by madman Christopher Walken. A spoof of films like Enter the Dragon and everyone of those spy films where the FBI or CIA use a regular Joe for a secret mission this is an amusing romp I'm glad I didn't pay big bucks to see on the big screen. Don't get me wrong its a funny movie but not worth the 11 bucks it would take to see in a theater. Dan Folger clearly is a man of limited ability,He's okay here but its clear between this and Good Luck Chuck he's headed for a limited film and TV career in supporting roles. As I said he's good the role doesn't require him to do little more than mug at the camera and he's fine, but I doubt very much he'll be able to ever really do more than that. Christopher Walken on the other hand is a scream, and its clear why he took the role, he can go as far over the top as he wants and still be amusing. The rest of the cast including veteran James Hong and comedian George Lopez is up to snuff, though Maggie Q is given little to do other than look good. Absolutely worth seeing on both DVD and cable.