Kicking and Screaming (2005, DVD)

Will Ferrell spent several years on the cast of Saturday Night Live before he left the show. He made several movies while on the show, though he was usually in supporting roles. He had the lead part in Kicking & Screaming, his newest movie.

Phil Weston spent his childhood trying to live up to his father s expectations. Buck was an avid sports fan and very competitive. Phil tried to succeed in several sports, but always failed. After Phil was an adult, he felt like he was in competition with his father. Buck had to announce his engagement to Janice when Phil and Barbara were sharing their news. The following year, Sam, Phil and Barbara s son was born. Buck and Janice had a son on the same day as well.

When the boys were older, they both were on the soccer team that Buck coached. Bucky was a very good player and Sam ended up sitting on the bench. Buck traded his grandson to the worst team in the league. The coach vanished before Sam could play his first game, so Phil decided he would coach the game. Phil decided to stay on as the coach. He ended up getting Mike Ditka to help coach the team. Mike did help get the team in better shape and also found two very talented new players. The team started to win and Phil became obsessed with beating his father.

Kicking & Screaming really wasn t a very original movie. There have been many movies made about sports in general. Several of those movies have been about some kind of team that was considered an underdog trying to overcome the odds to win. Some of the movies have had professional teams, some had amateur teams, and others had kid s teams. Even having different types of teams, there is only so much that can be changed about the plot when the movie is about an underdog team. Changing what sport the teams play doesn t change the overall plot that much. Most of these movies end up being predictable, but they can still be entertaining and enjoyable. I haven t seen too many of the movies featuring kid s sports teams before, but this one really wasn t that different from the ones I have seen with adult teams. Even though it was predictable, it was still entertaining. Anyone that wants to see something that is suspenseful shouldn t bother with this movie.

Kicking & Screaming was an entertaining family movie. There were silly moments in the movie, but I didn t think it was as mindless as some movies that are aimed at children are. There were things that happened that should keep parents entertained if they go with a child. The movie was rated PG, so there really wasn t anything offensive in it. There were times when the team members were encouraged to hurt other players if that is what it took to win, which isn t the best message to send to children. That did get straightened out later and the movie ultimately did have a good message. Soccer was a main focus of the movie, though the rules weren t explained. I know basically nothing about soccer, but that didn t keep me from being entertained. People don t need to fully understand the game to enjoy the movie. Children that are interested in soccer could enjoy the movie. Phil and Barbara were shown in their bedroom once, but there were no sex scenes. Janice tended to wear low cut shirts, but she was never topless. Phil did have his shirt off in one scene. I really could have done without seeing that.

I laughed more than once, but Kicking & Screaming wasn t as funny as I had hoped it would be. There were some long stretches when nothing funny happened. That did make the movie drag in places and seem like it was longer than it really was. Phil had a few fits throughout the movie that caused some laughs. Mike Ditka got Phil hooked on coffee, and that addiction lead to a few funny moments, including a scene when Phil flipped out in a coffee restaurant. Not all of Phil s antics ended up being funny. Some of the children on Phil s team did things that added to the humor as well. I think the scenes with Mike Ditka were intended to be funnier than I found them to be.

Phil had spent his life trying to excel in sports to make his father happy. He just wasn t a good athlete, though his troubles throwing the javelin did cause him to meet Barbara. Phil started off with a different philosophy than his father had about sports and just wanted Sam to have fun. Phil changed once the team started to win and ended up acting just as bad, if not worse, than his father. Will Ferrell was good in the part of Phil. He was believable in the part, though there were a few times when he seemed to go a bit over board. I have enjoyed his performance in other movies, including the very small part he had in Starsky & Hutch, but he can be irritating or annoying. People that don t like him shouldn t bother seeing this movie.

Robert Duvall has been in many movies, but not many have been comedies. He was good in the part. Buck was a devoted sports fan and liked winning. He didn t have faith that his son could coach soccer or even that his grandson could play well. Buck put his son down more than once, and even set out to embarrass him. He treated Phil badly, and wasn t a very likeable character for most of the movie. I liked his character in Secondhand Lions more. Buck s wife Janice really didn t add anything to the movie. Mike Ditka played himself. Mike was Buck s next door neighbor and the two men didn t get along.

Barbara seemed to be around just to try to calm Phil down and make him see reason. Kate Walsh was fine in the part. Sam wanted to be on a winning team, but he wanted to play and not sit on the bench all the time. Dylan McLaughlin was fine in the part. Josh Hutcherson played Bucky, Phil s younger brother. Bucky was much better at sports than Phil and Sam. Steven Anthony Lawrence has been in several other movies, including Cheaper by the Dozen and The Cat in the Hat. He played Mark, a boy that was trying to tell jokes all the time. Elliot Cho played Byong Sun, the smallest player on the team. He did a few things that added some laughs. The other actors were fine in their parts. None of them had much to do.

CAST

Elliot Cho - Byong Sun
Mike Ditka - Mike Ditka
Robert Duvall - Buck
Will Ferrell - Phil
Rachael Harris - Ann Hogan
Josh Hutcherson - Bucky
Laura Kightlinger - Donna Jones
Steven Anthony Lawrence - Mark
Dylan McLaughlin - Sam
Musetta Vander - Janice
Kate Walsh - Barbara

Jesse Dylan - Director

Kicking & Screaming had a few problems, but it was entertaining. It is another option for families looking for a movie to see. Fans of Will Ferrell may enjoy the movie, though it isn t his best work.

Related Reviews
Starsky & Hutch ~ Secondhand Lions ~ The Cat in the Hat ~ Cheaper by the Dozen ~