Balls of Fury Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 09.03.2007
These balls need more than funny taglines to impress anyone.
Dan Fogler: Randy Daytona
Christopher Walken: Feng
George Lopez: Agent Ernie Rodriguez
Maggie Q: Maggie Wong
James Hong: Master Wong
Terry Crews: Freddy
Robert Patrick: Sgt. Pete Daytona
Aisha Tyler: Mahogany
Directed By: Ben Garant
Release Date: August 29, 2007
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, and for language.
While it is certainly not the worst, Balls of Fury is easily one of most forgettable comedies of 2007. If getting released alongside Halloween, and two weeks after Superbad, one of the best comedies of the year, wasn’t enough to handicap its success, Balls of Fury is further injured by the fact that it is not in the slightest bit imaginative. Evidently, the cast and crew had much more fun filming it than any audience member would watching it.
Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was once a worldwide ping pong phenomenon. After an embarrassing loss as a child, he disappeared from the spotlight, and took random jobs performing tricks for low budget stage shows. One day, he is approached and recruited by FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez) to embark on a secret ping pong mission. It turns out that Feng (Christopher Walken), the man who killed Randy’s father (Robert Patrick), is holding a tournament which will include some of the best players in the world. Anxious and determined to avenge his father’s death, and prove that he still has talent, he accepts the assignment, and goes under the wing of blind Master Wong (James Hong). Through difficult training, and numerous match ups to obtain entry into the competition, Randy begins falling for Wong’s niece Maggie (Maggie Q).
Dan Fogler’s most well known contribution to cinema thus far has been the role of Zack in School for Scoundrels. He is an up and coming comedic actor, who has a humorous presence and solid delivery, but the problem is he resembles Jack Black and Chris Farley. One looks at his quirky mannerisms and intense speech, and says “Been there, done that.” This fact is further established by his script selection. If the studio could have, Farley or Black no doubt would have been asked to star. Farley has passed away, but these types of comedies are even below Black’s standards at this juncture. Fogler provides occasional bits that triumph, but they are few and far between. He should stick to supporting or sidekick parts.
Most viewers will take notice to Balls of Fury for one reason and one reason only, Christopher Walken. Yes, Walken can be hilarious when he wants to be, but not when surrounded by completely repetitive characters and paper-thin gags. Walken is a bright spot, but he is not quality enough to recommend buying a ticket. Though, listening to a supervillain named Feng giving instructions for athletes to contact him via email is extremely witty. The highlight is James Hong (Waynes World 2) by far. It is not a story featuring Asians without James Hong. The majority of his scenes are amusing, and his timing is as effective as ever. Take the moment he throws a carton of bees in a locked room for Daytona to swat, or when he supplies him with a small wooden spoon to practice with. On a side note, Maggie Q and George Lopez are neither convincing nor entertaining in relatively minor roles.
Balls of Fury is a terrific example of movie that induces what I call desperation chuckles. The trailer was crafted in a way that probably made you laugh, and perhaps you saw some popular actors and thought "I’d see that". However, when the flick obviously is not funny after one has paid admission, yet you really want to react positively to something, the moviegoer will start laughing at anything even faintly amusing. This will sustain your enjoyment for the 90 minutes, but when you leave the theater, it will be impossible to ignore the feeling of wasted money.
This is Director Ben Garant’s sophomoric effort. It is safe to say that I just do not find his style or techniques clever or inspired. After the dreadfully annoying Reno 911!: Miami earlier this year, and several screenplays he penned from Herbie Fully Loaded to Let’s Go To Prison, I have lost all eagerness to search for compliments in his material. He has yet to supply any stamp of inventiveness in his work. Balls of Fury is Beerfest meets Dodgeball, only without the cohesiveness or the enthusiastic premise. Dodgeball and beer are exciting topics. Ping pong has to be molded and shaped in an appealing fashion to satisfy or delight people at the conclusion of strenuous movie summer. Thomas Lennon definitely needed to tweak his script when it ends with a vicious ping pong match where the opponents are wearing samurai body armor than can electrocute them.
Balls of Fury is not a disappointment because my comic appetite was wonderfully fulfilled this summer. I don’t have any compelling sentences to write, or thought provoking analysis to use. The word that best describes this disposable offering is “lame.” Despite some sporadically genuine and gladdening areas, the jokes were mainly hollow, lifeless, or recycled from scratch. The classic Def Leopard tunes still invigorate the body and cause the head to bob, but nothing could have rescued this inert garbage.
The 411: Don’t bother spending money on Balls of Fury. If you just want to laugh, see Superbad again. If Christopher Walken suits your fancy, find one of his other films, or watch a clip of his popular "More Cowbell" Saturday Night Live sketch on youtube. Balls of Fury is not worth thinking about for more than a few minutes. Should the rare moment arise that I am in the mood for ping pong, I will insert my copy of Forrest Gump into the DVD player.
