Blackball

Cliff Starkey comes from the rough end of Torquay but is a master bowls player considering that he refuses to set foot onto the snobbish green of Ray Speight's bowling club. When he hears that Australia's hottest young bowlers are coming to England to play England's county champions, Cliff competes and wins - but an insult to Ray gets him a ban. Things look bleak until an American sports agent steps in and makes Cliff the all new bad boy of bowls - the hottest new sport in the UK.

Despite the average reviews for this film and the fact that British comedies are often a very low standard of humour, I decided to watch this film. I was once a bowler myself as a teenager but that played no part in my relative enjoyment of this film. The plot is daft of course but that shouldn't matter as the laughs should make it easy watching; this is sort of the case, but nowhere near enough. The comedy is very broad, which isn't a problem for me; what is a problem is that I wasn't laughing anywhere near enough to support this type of humour. I did laugh but it was inconsistent.

Despite this, the film still has enough rough energy to cover it even when it isn't drawing actual laughs. It is amusing in a very basic way and I found it just about did enough to justify watching. The script could really have done more to up the humour - the dialogue is too basic whereas I really think it could have done with being more off the wall and hilarious. As it was I think it relied too heavily on the daftness of the plot and it's energy to get laughs.

In terms of energy though, Kaye does well. He is quite good but he has a problem brought about by the fact that his character is an unsympathetic idiot from start to finish. This was an issue as you really need an audience on the side of the main character if we are eventually meant to root for him. Vegas is a very funny man - but here he really needed those `off the wall' lines I referred to before; he is still funny here but only by his appearance. God knows why Vaughan did this film but his was the best character simply because it was off the wall and fun; not his best performance but enjoyably silly. Cromwell adds a bit of weight but does seem too good for this. The support cast is full of British comedians - Cribbins, Staunton, Reeves, McNeice are all good and Tony Slattery is given a silly wig and just let loose. Small roles also for Mark Little and Jon Snow.

Overall this is amusing but never really hilarious. It has a few laughs but generally it gets by on raucous energy alone. It is broad and silly but it is worth seeing if you are in a silly mood and not too demanding.

I think it is fair to say that National Lampoon's Blackball borrows heavily from the whole concept that made Happy Gilmore the success it was. While this was not as good or nearly as popular, it is far better than many of the recent movies National Lampoon has released lately, most recently Holiday Reunion.

Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye) is a renegade bowler with a natural talent to make the balls do pretty much whatever he needs. He knows the trick shots and knows the game inside and out. Due to some childish pranks on his part, he is suspended from the game for 15 years so is reduced to playing only exhibitions. Thanks to Rick Schwartz (Vince Vaughn), who is something of an agent, he builds up Starkey's name as an attraction while at the same time, gets him the endorsements and appearances. Basically, he makes him famous. This is where the bowling league decides they are missing out on a lot of cash by not having him.

The movie moves towards teaming Cliff with his arch enemy in the bowling field, Ray Speight (James Cromwell) against Australia's baddest bowlers, Kyle and Mark Doohan (Mark Dymond & Mark Little). The English team of Starkey and Speight are having problems getting their heads in the game due to Starkey's press coverage of himself with Speight's daughter, Kerry (Alice Evans).

Blackball was by no means as good as Happy Gilmore was, if you are into these types of films, but it is definitely the same genre. The renegade bad boy is bringing new fans and more money to an otherwise dull sport. It is not too high on the list of great comedies, but if you like this type of humor, or National Lampoon for that matter, then it is one of their better efforts since they stopped making the Vacation movies. 6.5/10

When first being sent this film for Christmas by a few family friends it didn't really strike me as the type of film that i should devote my time to watching, (never judge a book by its cover) , as i always do when doing History work for my upcoming GCSE's i decide to watch a film. Normally this is Shawshank or Pulp fiction or a classic of that nature. Yesterday i decided to crack open Blackball, and i wasn't disappointed. Paul Kay provides in my view his personally career topping performance with a great portrayal as Cliff Starky, with most surprisingly Johnny Vegas pulling of a decent film role. This portrayal of bowls brings a witty, humorous and overall shining side to the sport of bowls and shows that some sports need to escape from their stereotypical, pod so to speak. Vince Vaughn provides a great supporting feature to the film with witty comments and great dialect to bring to live the humour of the film. The film also adds a bit of spice with Alice Evans giving a solid at times attractive performance as Kerry speight and helps the film run smoothly. I feel the real star of the show was James Cromwell who really put this film up from a 2-3 to a 7 showing his experience as and actor and portraying Ray speight perfectly. All together i feel this is a great watch lacking a fantastic plot with witty good humoured fun and at times a very good laugh. I highly recommend you at least give this British film (my proud country :) a try :).

Well I was looking in my video shop for a 7 day rental (ie all those old films people don't want to watch any more), and was feeling quite hungover, so I didn't want to waste too much time. I grabbed this because I've always liked Paul Kaye, and can honestly say its one of the funniest films I've seen in years. I'm not usually a fan of British comedies, they tend to be a bit cheesy I think, but this was top class, I'm really surprised that no-one I know has mentioned it before.

If your a fan of bowls, then this might not be for you, as it does take the mickey out of this age old sport. I was surprised to learn that it was (loosely) based on a true story.

Some excellent cameos in it as well.

If you've not seen it, see it. If you've seen it, good.

I did not like the marketing of the film in he UK which sold the film as a comedy with a weird theme, when what the film actually is is a romantic comedy with dramatic moments and hilarious moments about the clash between modern England and the traditional England symbolized by the odd game Blackball. Peter Kaye embodies the post sex pistols generations and delivers a superb interpretation. The story is entertaining, moves fast enough, Mel Smith's directing is sharp and efficient. It should have been a success. Alice Evans is cute enough, a bit on the cold though, as the daughter of the old Speight played by a towering James Cromwell, excellent as always. What an actor! The duet Cromwell/Kaye is unforgettable and works marvelously as the symbol for modern day England generation gap and culture clash. Tasteless marketing impaired the chances of this very good British movie in the theaters.