NIKKI says:You just know what to expect, right? It's all that and more. Let's do a checklist.
Stuff to Expect From Balls of Fury
1. The feeling this was possibly written with Will Ferrell in mind. Check.
A bit like Hot Rod, there's definitely a Will Ferrell veneer over this one. But as Ferrell is over taking on bigger sports like basketball, it's left to up-and-coming comedy guys like Dan Fogler to tackle competitive ping pong. Fogler's character is a bit of a dunce, prone to anger, uncoordinated when without ping pong bat in hand, yet somehow a babe-magnet. That's Ferrell all over the place.
2. Random humour that smacks of nostalgia. Check and check.
Need I note more than Randy's obsession with Def Leppard?
3. Bizarre cameo from small comedy greats and big movie stars. Check, check.
Diedrich Bader shows up for a few minutes to make us uncomfortable, and Christopher Walken plays a ping pong Confucius-type in full Chinese traditional wear. The weirdest bit of this was Aisha Tyler hiding in the background as a Grace Jones-type warrior woman.
4. Stereotypes abound for the sake of comedy. Oh, check.
Like the French in Talladega Nights, the East Germans are pummeled here.
5. Comedy is King and so story and character development take a slight backseat to crotch gags. Super check.
But something about this silly film makes that okay. I've just learned this is from one of the writers of the very un-funny Reno 911, so some of the humour makes sense now. In a way, though, it had a bizarre innocence that made me think more of Hot Rod and less of Anchorman -- always a good thing. At 80 minutes, too, it was concise, and took up only the necessary amount of time it should have to tell its ridiculous tale.
So, there you have it. More reasons to love the Anti-Ferrell film.
3/5
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