Just for Kicks

Movie review by Brian Costello, Common Sense Media
Just for Kicks Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 9+

Poorly made sexist sports movie has lots of name calling.

PG 2003 92 minutes
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Parents say

age 9+

Based on 3 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 1 review

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Just for Kicks has frequent bullying, name-calling, and and is based on outdated ideas about gender roles. Potty humor abounds as boys pass gas and challenge each other to bare their bottoms to an audience. The tween boys also make sexual comments toward an adult woman who dresses in skimpy clothes and bends over provocatively at various times. The movie does raise the idea of parents who push their kids too hard to succeed at sports.

Community Reviews

danabrown925
danabrown925 Adult
April 5, 2020
age 10+

Whole Movie Should Have Been Left on the Cutting Room Floor

We only watched about 15 minutes of this movie before I called it quits. My son asked me what the rating was when a kid used the word "boobs." All female adults are depicted as bimbos. The main characters are poor role models (destroy the living room and do not clean it up). There were numerous sexual jokes in a moved targeted at elementary aged kids. After a kid said, "blows," I told my son we were done. There did not appear to be a plot anyhow. Disappointing.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Holly R.
Holly R. Adult
January 25, 2019
age 10+

The one characters dad is sorta abusive...

There's potty humor and lots of negative stereotypes. The only good thing (if you can call it that) is that one of the minor characters dad's learns to be a better father after being really unpleasant for the majority of the movie. The movie has very poor acting. Not just the children but even the adults are not good at line delivery. The entire movie is just negative in places where it doesn't have to be. And it's not so much the rude humor that bothers me so much was the way that the one father character behaves. It borders on emotional abuse. I can tolerate the kids bullying in the movie because that's part of growing up but it's uncalled for to have an emotionally abusive adult. I'm putting language down because even though there isn't any profanity, the way that the dad talks to his child is just wrong.

This title has:

Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Cole and Dylan Sprouse (long before they made a name for themselves on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) play two boys who love soccer. When their father (Tom Arnold), the head coach of their soccer team, has to leave in a hurry to attend to very important business, it is up to their mother and aunt to take over coaching duties. When their mother takes over as coach, things look quite grim for their team, the Terriers, and parents start to pull their kids off the team over the idea of a woman as a soccer coach. But when a mysterious and strange man starts to help Cole and Dylan at random times, with soccer and with life, the team starts to improve, and it starts to look like the team might become soccer champions.

Is It Any Good?

The sexism on display in JUST FOR KICKS makes it incredible that this movie was released in 2003. As if parents taking their kids off of a soccer team over the idea of a woman being a head coach isn't enough, there's enough bullying, name calling, and sophomoric humor on display to make this a movie to avoid.

Furthermore, for parents and kids looking for a movie about soccer, this movie doesn't even really show that much actual play. While the movie acknowledges problems in youth sports like parents who push their kids too hard to succeed, or kids being taunted on the field, no solutions are really presented.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about women in sports. How does this film address the issue of women coaching sports? Who are some examples of successful women coaches?

  • Have you seen kids who are pushed too hard by their parents to succeed in sports, or have you seen kids who make mistakes while playing sports made fun of because of it? How realistically does this movie portray these issues?

  • What do you think this movie's message is about bullying?

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