directed by Jesse Dylan (American
Wedding)
written by Leo Benvenuti (The Santa Clause)
& Steve Rudnick (The Santa Clause)
produced by Jimmy Miller ("The Guardian") and Charles Roven (Bulletproof Monk)
starring Will Ferrell (A Night at the Roxbury),
Robert Duvall (John Q), Mike Ditka (Game Over), Kate Walsh (After the Sunset), Musetta Vander (Wild Wild West), Dylan McLaughlin (Seeing Other People), Josh Hutcherson (Motocross Kids), Steven Anthony Lawrence (Cheaper By the Dozen), Jeremy Bergman (Dudley Do-Right), Elliott Cho
lowdown:
An unlikely coach leads a pack of loser kids to a sports championship,
part MMDCCLVIII.
low expectation:
Will Ferrell is a busy man these days. He's got a new movie released at the tail run of all his films so that he's never absent from the multiplex. The good thing is that, for the most part, Ferrell is worth some laughs in whatever generic formula (or unnecessary TV remake) he's dropped into. The bad thing is that underneath those laughs is a generic formula (or dispensible TV remake).
How many uninspired scripts do you think show up at the office of Jiimmy Miller (Ferrell's agent) with a note telling, "the ___ character isn't that funny as written, but imagine your client reading those lines!" Trite ventures like this are the reason most screenwriters get such little recognition (or pay) these days. The fact that Miller and Ferrell actually came up with the idea themselves, while devising a kid-friendly cash-cow, is almost more disappointing. The scheme worked for them on the very successful Elf, but few were more than slightly entertained -you don't hear a lot of quoting from or referencing of that movie.
Kicking and Screaming is -if it needs be made at all -a vehicle for Rick Moranis or another declining comedic actor. I don't mean to show Moranis any disrespect; he just isn't as depended on for the comedy as a Ferrell or a Jim Carrey. Therefore, a better script is possible (although not altogether likely) in order to support the less hammed performance.
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