Ladybugs

Starring: Rodney Dangerfield, Jonathan Brandis, Jackie Harry, Ilene Graff, Vinessa Shaw, Tom Parks, Jeannetta Arnette, Jandi Swanson, Blake Clark, Tommy Lasorda
Directed by: Sidney J. Furie
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Sport
1992

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A hapless businessman (Rodney Dangerfield) agrees to coach a girl's soccer team for promotion. To force the terrible team to win, he has his girlfriend's son (Jonathan Brandis) dress up as a girl to play for them.

Review:

Tim: I remember seeing Ladybugs in my youth and enjoying the movie. It's the kind of film that would appeal to an adolescent, without much experience in the world. I revisited it as an adult and hoped I'd still like it. Even accounting for the time period in which it was released, as a more experienced movie watcher, I couldn't bring myself to like the film. It has strong moments, but it's ultimately a disappointment. Much of what happens in this film couldn't happen in today's world and that's probably a good thing. The story feels very much a product of its times, so while I wanted to criticize it strongly, I had to let some of that go. The basic story is one that's ripe for comedy, though- a boy pretends to be a girl to help the girl's soccer team win games. Not brilliant, but a worthwhile premise. That's what I enjoyed as a kid. I wasn't thinking about the built-in misogyny of such a premise. I cringed throughout this movie, but tried to understand the culture of the early 1990s.

As much as that bothered me, what really frustrated me was that the film is really just a vehicle for Rodney Dangerfield to deliver dozens of quips, aligned with his brand of comedy. It took me a little while to notice, but it ended up being very distracting. First off, they aren't especially funny. Secondly, they pull all the attention to Dangerfield and have no connection with the actual story itself. It becomes really annoying, how the script bends over backwards to accommodate Dangerfield's comedic one-liners when they add so little to the story. I was surprised how often they happen in the film. Every time, there's this little pause after and you can almost hear the drum rim shot going off. Dangerfield is too funny a guy for some of the jokes not to connect- I did chuckle at times. However, as a whole, they detract from the movie more than they help. I did enjoy Dangerfield bringing his brand and energy to the role, it just needed to be toned down some.

The movie did make me sad, because every time I see Jonathan Brandis, I think about what a tragedy he became. Brandis had unbelievable amounts of talent for someone so young. He's easily the best thing about this movie, and his role and the film isn't that great. Watch the scene where he's running back-and-forth, changing from a boy to a girl in his house. It's the most brilliant sequence of the film and you just marvel at what Brandis could have become had he not ended his own life. I've always been a huge Brandis fan, back to his Seaquest DSV days and he was wonderful in this role. That's a big reason I enjoyed the movie, seeing Brandis in this role. He works well opposite Dangerfield. The rest of the cast is fine- Jackie Harry delivers some nice comedic moments and Vinessa Shaw is always memorable, even with her acting limitations.

The story is fine- it's definitely a bit predictable. The movie is never as funny as it thinks it is. It's a decent sports comedy, offering up some worthwhile sports sequences. It felt like it was made by people who know nothing about sports, because some of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the games felt totally unrealistic. The movie works best when these crazy misadventures cause the two main characters (played by Dangerfield and Brandis) to examine themselves and their relationship. The events of the film cause them both to change and that transformation is what I liked most about the film. The heart of the movie is strong, it's just everything around it that is weaker and pulls the whole movie down. As you might expect, the movie is a short 1 hour 30 minutes. I can't say I was consistently entertained throughout the film. I never wanted to turn it off, but Dangerfield's dumb one-liners grew increasingly annoying as the film went on.

I absolutely admit as a child, I would have ranked this film higher- probably a 7. I thought it was a good movie. As an adult, I lowered that initial rating quite a bit- it's okay, a clear 6 in my mind. When I think about the main actors and what the film almost was, I tend to go up just a bit, but I don't think the film quite gets to 6.5. I don't round up in my ratings, each is a threshold that needs to be pierced. Ladybugs has some solid moments, but the script is rough and Sidney J. Furie seems to let Dangerfield run a bit too wild. He needed more restraint and we needed a stronger level of direction for this movie to succeed.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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