ViewGuide

Created Jun 30, 2008 03:33AM PST • Edited Jun 30, 2008 03:33AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   Not one of his best comedies, but Will Ferrell still manages to create a buffoon who can entertain through the majesty of sport. It’s definitely no Anchorman, and perhaps the sport parodies should stop now, but there are still some comedy gems to unearth here.

4. Acting

   OK 2.5

   Ferrell and Woody Harrelson are the standouts, Harrelson showing a comedic side that I hadn’t really realised he had. Andre Benjamin continues to show that he can act also, and the straight actors provide the audience with comic performances that accentuate Ferrell’s insane Jackie Moon. There aren’t really any women within the film, which I guess fits with the story, but the male co-stars are what truly makes it a good comedy, with hilarious performances from Rob Corddry, Will Arnett and many others.

5. Male Stars Good 3.0

   As said before, Ferrell, Harrelson and Benjamin are good in this film, but Ferrell probably does steal it with his typically madcap promoter.

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

   Only Maura Tierney (she of ER fame) holds the torch for the women in this film, and she doesn’t have much (if anything) to do, so her performance as a former girlfriend of Monix (Harrelson) and defeated wife of the super-fan of the Tropics (the disturbingly mad Corddry) is as good as it needs to be.

7. Female Costars Bad 1.0

   None that I could really pick out to talk about, which is a shame.

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

   This is where the film’s acting truly adds up, with Will Arnett and Rob Corddry making their characters the two most quotable and memorable of the supporting cast. The Ron Burgundy-like commentator that Arnett plays gives the matches and the middle scenes an injection of total surrealism, and Corddry’s insane fan is the centerpiece of what, to me, was the film’s most hilarious scene. Jackie Earl Haley also gains a few laughs with his stoner character, the only person to ever win one of Jackie Moon’s ridiculous competitions, much to Moon’s horror.

10. Film

    Very Good 3.5

    The period setting of the film is clear to see, and the filmmakers went all out with their attempts to make the film clearly set in the ’70’s. The music was fantastic, as were most of the lines, with some good quotable ones hidden in there. Moon’s song “Love Me Sexy”, a song invented and sung by Ferrell for the film, is better than the film; I recommend you find it and listen to it, because it’s one of the best things to have come from the film.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

    Alterman pretty much tries to lay the basketball story over the insanity of Will Ferrell, and this does work to an extent, but at times you are taken out of it by Jackie Moon’s promotions (the bear fight in particular), which are just an attempt by Ferrell to act crazy for laughs, something which I wish he would tone down.

12. Play Great 4.0

    Some of the lines in this film are quotable classics, but it’s Arnett’s boozy commentator that has most of the best, particularly one scene which turns on the insult “jive-turkey”.

13. Music Great 4.0

    The ’70’s soundtrack is great, and does add to the feeling of a period film. But “Love Me Sexy” is the standout.

14. Visuals OK 2.5

    There’s not really anything to say here except that the film appears to lie in the dull colours of the failing Michigan cities, but the characters wear such garish clothes that it makes a contrast that looks quite amazing on screen. What little effects are needed are obviously effects (case in point being the bear fight).

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 2.6

    The language is really all that this film has, with one sex scene. The aftermath of that scene however gives the viewer the most disturbing and hilarious moment of the film, which is really not suitable for anyone below the age of 15!

17. Sex Erotic 3.3

    Only the one scene I mentioned, and its follow up.

18. Violence Gentle 1.2

    A few fights, that’s it! Harmless!

19. Rudeness Profane 3.3

    The film is really a Ferrell comedy with extra swear words, so just expect the F-Bomb and a few other random curses.

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.4

    It’s believable ’till the bear fight, and then it starts to go slightly more insane. Shame, ’cos it all seemed so real, particularly the ridiculous promotions to gain support, which you can see reflected in any modern sporting event!

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.4

23. Biological Surreal 2.4

24. Physical Surreal 2.4