Balls of Fury (PG-13)
Slapstick ping-pong comedy has very slight bounce.
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- Studio: Rogue Pictures, Rogue Pictures
- Directed By: Ben Garant
- Cast: Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Dan Fogler
- Running Time: 90 minutes
- Release Date: 08/29/2007
- Video/DVD Release Date: 12/18/2007
- Genre: Comedy
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
- MPAA Explanation: crude and sex-related humor, and for language.
Parents need to know
Families can talk about the appeal of underdog stories. Why are films that depict a character's triumphant rise so compelling? In real life, do you think people are more interested in stories like that or in watching heroes crash and burn (the way young Randy fails at the Olympics)? What role does the media play in that process? Also, how does seeing sports on TV affect your perception of them? Do televised events overemphasize the drama, or are they merely mirroring what actually exist? Do you think ping-pong could be that hyper-competitive? What other sports looks calm when in fact they aren't?
Message
Social Behavior:
Characters, including Dayton's father, bet on ping-pong; Wong berates Daytona constantly; concubines offer themselves up for sex. Some jokes are based on Asian stereotypes; others are homophobic. But the main character, Randy, is a soft-hearted, genuine guy.
Consumerism:
ESPN clips; mentions of the Olympics; references to Def Leppard and the band's hit songs.
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:
Some drinking and smoking in gambling dens and bars.
Violence
Includes gunplay, electrocution, murder by poison dart, and even a bomb going off. But it's largely played for laughs, and viewers don't see blood.
Sex
A couple kisses passionately, and she wraps her legs around him; in the scene in which male concubines are presented, one insists on spending the night; sounds of a couple having sex in another room. References to various characters' sexual preferences, though nothing really explicit is said. Plenty of scantily clad women. Men grope Maggie at the ping-pong training center, though she's able to fend them off with martial arts.
Language
Fairly mild: "ass," "bull-poop," "bitch," "hell," "snot," etc.
Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by S. Jhoanna Robledo
Is it any good?
Still, it's so good-naturedly inane that it manages not to offend. In fact, it may even make you laugh (a little). Credit for that first goes to Christopher Walken, who commits to the insanity with such relish that you can't help but let your guard down.
Walken's a delight, but it's Fogler who makes this whole enterprise somewhat worthwhile. He's boorish but likable, a Jack Black in the making. He floats through the absurdity with ease, able to battle an 8-year-old ping-pong master dubbed "the Dragon" without being over-the-top, even though the material is. (The movie was written by Reno 911! veterans Lennon and director Ben Garant, who, having found a way to make ping-pong seem as thrilling as it can be, should work for ESPN.)
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Parents and kids say
All Reviews
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Adult Reviews
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