Balls of Fury (2007)
Randy Daytona: Dan Fogler
Feng: Christopher Walken
Agent Rodriguez: George Lopez
Master Wong: James Hong
Maggie Wong: Maggie Q
Karl Wolfschtagg: Thomas Lennon
Mahogany: Aisha Tyler
Sgt. Pete Daytona: Robert Patrick
Gary: Diedrich Bader
Freddy Fingers: Terry Crews
The Hammer: Patton Oswalt
Rick: David Koechner
Rogue Pictures presents a film co-written and directed by Robert Ben Garant. Co-written by Thomas Lennon.
Running time: 90 minutes
Rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, and for language.
Release Date: August 29, 2007
Review Date: August 31, 2007
------------------------------------------------
I couldn't help but wonder during Balls of Fury whether or not a good trailer is a blessing or a curse for a comedy. When I saw the two-minute trailer for this film a few weeks ago, I thought it looked like it would be funny. It's not until sitting through the other eighty-eight minutes of Robert Ben Garant's second directorial effort (the really-funny-but-really-forgettable Reno 911!: Miami being the first) that I realized I'd already seen most of this film's best scenes.
Much like the Reno 911! flick, the plot of Balls of Fury is as brief as it is absurd. After choking in the 1988 Olympics, Randy Daytona (Fogler) is stuck using his table tennis skills as a crummy Las Vegas lounge act. Until one day an FBI agent (Lopez) comes along and says that Daytona is the only man to help him catch the diabolical Mr. Feng (Walken) - who, by the way, also murdered Randy's dad (Patrick). To do this he must enter Feng's invite-only ping pong tournament.
For the first two acts, the cast and crew manage to work around the ludicrous plot at a pretty brisk pace. Randy gets his training and, indeed, finds his way into the tournament, surrounded by plenty of chuckles but no real deep laughs. Casting guys who usually just need to show up to be funny - Christopher Walken, Terry Crews, Thomas Lennon, etc. - is certainly a step in the right direction.
But that extra something just doesn't seem to be there. Never having directed a successful comedy, I can't say for certain what that something is. Does Balls of Fury need its own "McLovin"? Not necessarily, but I do know that I was laughing a hell of a lot harder during Superbad than I was this movie. Superbad also didn't have the never ending feel of this film, but I guess it's a lot easier to write about a couple of losers in high school than the shady world of underground table tennis.
Despite the fact that there's never been a comedy about that subject before - at least, not that I can recall - Balls of Fury has a very "been there, done that" feel to it. A couple of gay jokes, a couple of small nods to better films (or one very big nod if you're George Lopez), a couple of over-dramatic scenes meant to make people snicker at the cheesiness of it all. And as far as films about obscure sports go, if Dodgeball was stuck on ESPN 8, I'd imagine that Feng's ping pong tournament would get pushed back to ESPN 12 or 13.
Balls of Fury wasn't a total waste of time, certainly, but this isn't a theater film. This is a lazy Sunday afternoon on Comedy Central with nothing else on film. When you're shelling out money to see some of the truly hilarious comedies of the last few months - like Superbad, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, and to a lesser extent, The Simpsons - it just doesn't feel as worthwhile to pay the same price for a movie like Balls of Fury.
As the star of one of those better comedies, Homer Simpson, once said, "Why have hamburger when you can have steak?"
** (out of ****)