Overall Rating:***
Kicking & Screaming @ IMDB
Synopsis:
When Phil Weston (Will Farrell) gets the opportunity to coach his son’s soccer team, he’s gets the chance to prove he’s nothing like his overbearing and belittling father. Phil quickly loses himself in the stuggle to win as we see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Review:
Everything I heard and read about this movie said that it wasn’t going to be good. It didn’t do that well at the box office and most people that saw it said it wasn’t any good. Personally, its tough to pass up a Will Farrel movie, regardless of what people say about it. I’m happy to report that everyone was wrong, at least in my opinion. I got a kick out of this movie, no pun intended.
I’ll be honest, it isn’t Farrel’s best work. I laughed more during Anchorman and Old School, but I still got a good laugh out of Kicking & Screaming. Its definitely more of a family movie than an all out comedy as the humor is a lot milder than his other movies. There are still some crude jokes, but nothing too graphic or explicit. It does play a little like The Mighty Ducks or The Little Giants, but that didn’t seem to hurt the movie too much.
The movie has a wonderful cast of characters, including Mike Ditka (as himself) and and Phil’s father, Buck Weston (Robert Duvall). The cast of kids used in the movie wasn’t that great. They were probably the weakest element. Though one kid definitely stole the show, Byong Sun (Elliot Cho). Half as tall as any of the other kids used, he is the most amusing and cute kid used. I should also mention that Ditka did a great job. His rivally with Buck is a great source of comedy for this movie.
Overall, a good movie. Despite the bad press, I think it earned three out of five stars. Its definitely worth the rental but its a questionable purchase. I don’t think I would cough up the money to buy this movie because its just not Will Farrell’s funniest.