Kicking & Screaming

Starring: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka
Directed by: Jesse Dylan
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Sports
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An unathlete man (Will Ferrell) decides to coach his son's youth soccer team to compete with his ultracompetitive father (Robert Duvall). He soons finds himself in over his head, so he recruits his father's nemesis (Mike Ditka) to help him win.

Review:

Tim: Will Ferrell pulls off an interesting feat here- he makes a movie that looked terrible actually watchable (and very close to being good). I like the idea of a comedy spoofing the borderline-insane soccer moms and dads that have plagued this country as of late. If you want a ridiculous soccer dad, Ferrell is your man.

Ferrell is actually pretty funny in the role. Some of his films make him look ridiculous and almost completely unfunny (Elf, The Ladies Man), but here, he actually made me laugh a good deal. The airbag scene is great, as are several of his ridiculous coaching and coffee moments.

Robert Duvall is decent, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was slumming it by appearing in this movie. His feud with Mike Ditka is decent. Ditka is deceptively funny. His presence feels like a cheap gimmick, even though he manages to be pretty funny.

The film is too short on laughs and is just not funny enough. It is always at least somewhat entertaining and you shouldn't get too bored with it. The movie is fairly predictable, but what would you expect?

Fans of Ferrell will definitely not want to miss out on this film. It is much cleaner and more kid-oriented than many of Ferrell's other films. If you want to see a movie about an adult coaching a bunch of kids, there are much better films out there.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Bad News Bears, Elf, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy