Pirate Hooker with Monkey
30th August 2007, 01:24 PM
Of fury that is.
So yesterday, the estrogen-challenged group of males at my work dragged me to see “Balls of Fury.” I really had no desire to see the flick, mainly because earlier this year I had a run-in with it’s main star, Dan Fogel, which I won’t even go into detail about here because it will just embarrass me (NOT recognizing a star is even worse than drooling over one)…….so when the word came down from the main man that it was “movie day” at work….for a split second I thought about sneaking out the back and skipping it all together.
However, I was pleasantly surprised! Written by the same group that does “Reno 911” (and my new favorite “Gay Robot”)…Balls Of Fury is along the same comedy vein as “Dodgeball”, “Anchorman”, and “Blades of Glory.” I would consider it vastly superior to “Talladega Nights”, but not nearly as genius as “40 Year Old Virgin.”
George Lopez plays an FBI agent that recruits washed-up table tennis pro Fogler to infiltrate an evil underground ping-pong tournament ran by the ever enjoyable Christopher Walken. I’m sure at one point Walken thought he was going to be remembered for all time as this great, serious, Hollywood actor….but Walken’s deadpan comedy is truly his claim to fame, and his wacky spaced-out persona brings a balance to almost every comedy he makes a cameo in. Fortunately, in “Balls of Fury” we are treated to far more than just a cameo.
The story line here is really paper-thin. Think of every “comedy sports” movie where a washed-up underdog gets recruited and trained by a “master” to end up competing for his life and the life of his love interest. Unfortunately, in this film, the love interest “Maggie Q” is more of an annoyance than addition to the otherwise superb cast. I think this woman weighs about 80 pounds, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her Nicole Ritchie stick thin arms long enough to pay any attention to anything she was saying. Apparently she is a very famous martial arts actress in Hong Kong, and while her fight scenes were amusing, they were too unbelievable looking at her spindly frame.
James Hong, as the ping pong old-school master that trains Fogel, is a real standout in this film. Known best as a character actor, Hong portrays an old blind dirty perv with an affliction for hookers with hilarious ease. He steals most of the scenes where Walken is absent.
Fogler definitely leaves some room for improvement, doing what I like to call “A poor man’s Jack Black” impression for most of the film. He is an affable fellow, but not the kind you really get behind and root for. You kinda don’t care what happens to him at all.
There is a really funny under story about a ring of sex slaves Walken keep at his compound, and a few one-liners about a panda that I won’t give away here…but it had me rolling on the floor laughing.
This film was definitely good for a total “turn your brain off laugh-fest.” I was pleasantly surprised, and would rate it above some of the crap that Will Farrell has put out since his ingenious “Anchorman.” I certainly enjoyed this flick more than either “Blades of Glory,” or “Talladega Nights.”
This film is also good for all ages. It loses the raunch that was soo jolting in the “Reno 911” film, and aside from some gay jokes, it is pretty mild.
I’d say 3 out of 5 stars.
So yesterday, the estrogen-challenged group of males at my work dragged me to see “Balls of Fury.” I really had no desire to see the flick, mainly because earlier this year I had a run-in with it’s main star, Dan Fogel, which I won’t even go into detail about here because it will just embarrass me (NOT recognizing a star is even worse than drooling over one)…….so when the word came down from the main man that it was “movie day” at work….for a split second I thought about sneaking out the back and skipping it all together.
However, I was pleasantly surprised! Written by the same group that does “Reno 911” (and my new favorite “Gay Robot”)…Balls Of Fury is along the same comedy vein as “Dodgeball”, “Anchorman”, and “Blades of Glory.” I would consider it vastly superior to “Talladega Nights”, but not nearly as genius as “40 Year Old Virgin.”
George Lopez plays an FBI agent that recruits washed-up table tennis pro Fogler to infiltrate an evil underground ping-pong tournament ran by the ever enjoyable Christopher Walken. I’m sure at one point Walken thought he was going to be remembered for all time as this great, serious, Hollywood actor….but Walken’s deadpan comedy is truly his claim to fame, and his wacky spaced-out persona brings a balance to almost every comedy he makes a cameo in. Fortunately, in “Balls of Fury” we are treated to far more than just a cameo.
The story line here is really paper-thin. Think of every “comedy sports” movie where a washed-up underdog gets recruited and trained by a “master” to end up competing for his life and the life of his love interest. Unfortunately, in this film, the love interest “Maggie Q” is more of an annoyance than addition to the otherwise superb cast. I think this woman weighs about 80 pounds, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her Nicole Ritchie stick thin arms long enough to pay any attention to anything she was saying. Apparently she is a very famous martial arts actress in Hong Kong, and while her fight scenes were amusing, they were too unbelievable looking at her spindly frame.
James Hong, as the ping pong old-school master that trains Fogel, is a real standout in this film. Known best as a character actor, Hong portrays an old blind dirty perv with an affliction for hookers with hilarious ease. He steals most of the scenes where Walken is absent.
Fogler definitely leaves some room for improvement, doing what I like to call “A poor man’s Jack Black” impression for most of the film. He is an affable fellow, but not the kind you really get behind and root for. You kinda don’t care what happens to him at all.
There is a really funny under story about a ring of sex slaves Walken keep at his compound, and a few one-liners about a panda that I won’t give away here…but it had me rolling on the floor laughing.
This film was definitely good for a total “turn your brain off laugh-fest.” I was pleasantly surprised, and would rate it above some of the crap that Will Farrell has put out since his ingenious “Anchorman.” I certainly enjoyed this flick more than either “Blades of Glory,” or “Talladega Nights.”
This film is also good for all ages. It loses the raunch that was soo jolting in the “Reno 911” film, and aside from some gay jokes, it is pretty mild.
I’d say 3 out of 5 stars.