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Balls Of Fury (2007)

Average rating

(54%)

Starring:	Christopher Walken \| George Lopez \| Georges Lopez \| Maggie Q \| Dan Fogler \| Terry Crews \| Thomas Lennon \| James Hong \| Robert Patrick
Director:	Robert Ben Garant
Studio:	UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK VIDEO RENTAL
Run time:	86 mins
Genres:	Action/Adventure \| Comedy
Languages:	English
Hearing-impaired:	English
Released:	April 21, 2008

Dan Fogler stars as table tennis child prodigy and Def Leppard-devotee Randy Daytona, whose defeat at the hands of an East German (Thomas Lennon) during the 1988 Olympics forced him leave the world of table tennis competition in disgrace. Randy's life is a shambles until he gets recruited by a CIA agent (Barry Lopez) to infiltrate an ENTER THE DRAGON-style table tennis tournament (to the death), run by an evil triad leader (Christopher Walken). First Randy needs to get back in shape; enter James Hong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) as the blind table tennis master Wang and Maggie Q as his sexy, kung fu-fighting niece.
While BALLS OF FURY is a consistently funny comedy it also manages to slyly infuse some intelligence and compassion into its steady stream of genre spoofing and lowbrow crotch gags (similar in that sense to Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES). Fogler has an engagingly scruffy underdog-style warmth and seems to really connect with the older pros like Walken and Hong; there's the sense everyone had a good time making this film, which carries over to the audience. Director Robert Ben Garant knows when to speed up the action and when to give his actors room to stretch out; the result is a generous spirit where all the cast is allowed to grab their share of the laughs.

Screenshots

Rating of 1 stars out of 5
Time Out

Making dumb comedies is harder than it looks: for every Dodgeball there are dozens of excruciating failures. This...

Highest rated reviews

17 out of 17 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3.0 stars
Serves up a few decent shots.

Meako from , 21st November, 2007

Obviously trying to jump into the comic shoes of films such as Dodgeball and Shaolin Soccer, Balls of Fury is an enjoyable enough pastiche of sporting films mixed with old-skool Martial Arts flicks. With a plot about an underground ping-pong tournement run by an evil scheming warlord, and the FBI recruiting a failed ping pong champ to get them inside his lair, the sillyness of the scenario is evident. The film is played to the obvious puns, and only one or two moments seem fresh and original - but it doesn't really matter as for every duff gag there is an amusing one to compensate. Walken hams up the scenes he is in, even if he doesn;t make an entrance until half way through, and Maggie Q offers some amusement. With sly gags at the expense of films such as Karate Kid (particularly in the training sequences) this is a film that those who remember the 80s will find enough to please them - but only if they keep expectations low and accept that this isn't a big blockbuster film. The running time is tight enough to ensure the film doesn't overstay its welcome and, much like Run Fatboy Run, it shows that you can churn out an average comedy which has been done before and still make it decent enough so that the audience don't feel cheated at the end. To sum up, if you saw the trailer and thought it looked rubbish, then perhaps you should avoid the end result. If the trailer tickled your funny bone, then give it a shot - it delivers exactly what it promised.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 1.0 stars
Could have been good if they'd tried harder!

slowreality from from Northolt, 24th September, 2009

When I first heard the title 'Balls of Fury' I was expecting something really quite amusing and was looking forward to seeing it. I sat and I watched it and to be honest it's totally not all that, which was a real big shame. There was sooooooooooo many times when they tried to be funny and came out worser than American Pie! Obviously it's not down to me whether or not you decide to rent this but all I'll say is if you have a small amount of intelligence and like a proper comedy rather than cheap gags (American Pie does NOT count!) then honestly don't bother with this.

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