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Balls
of Fury
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
Directed
by: Ben Garant
Starring: Dan
Fogler, Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Maggie
Q, Thomas Lennon, Terry Crews
Released by: Rogue Pictures
In
Short: This ping-pong parody is so embarrassingly bad, we advise all involved to pack up their paddles and go home, as they may never get a job in Tinseltown again. |
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Soft Balls
Truly Painful Paddling
by
Jenny Peters
As
the credits roll at the close of “Balls of Fury,” one
thing is guaranteed. If you actually paid to see this
movie, you’ll be furious at yourself. Perhaps the
current nadir of films released in 2007, this inane,
poorly written and badly acted movie tells the tale of
Randy Daytona, an Olympic ping-pong has-been (Dan Fogler).
Daytona squares off against an evil gangster (Christopher
Walken), who is obsessed with the game. The result is
a storyline that is downright painful to experience.
With
television and big-screen versions of "Reno 911!” under their belt, “Balls of Fury” should have been writers Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon’s
next step toward solidifying their reputation as decent
film comedy makers.
Instead, with this mish-mash of cheesy special effects, endless balls-to-the-crotch sight gags, and other tired comedy clichés, these guys will be lucky to ever work in this town again. Add in their not-funny-for-a-moment story line involving a gaggle of chicken-hearted, overtly gay “Male Courtesan” characters, and they’ll be lucky not to get mugged next time they try to walk through Boys Town in West Hollywood.
Even table tennis aficionados won’t find much to laugh about in this parody of that fast-and-furious Olympic sport—virtually all of the ping-pong paddling shown in the flick is faked, a fact that is painfully obvious from the first scene to the last.
The only highlight of this abysmal film is the presence of Maggie Q, the up-and-coming Asian-American actress whose recent credits include “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Mission:
Impossible III,” and who will be seen later this year in “The Tourist,” a thriller co-starring Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor. Now if that talented young woman can just figure out how to expunge “Balls of Fury” from her resume, she’s set for a bright career in Tinseltown. For the rest of the cast involved in this embarrassing mess, it may just be the death knell for theirs. 
PNJ082907 |
(Updated
01/21/08 NJ) |
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