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Kicking and Screaming Rating: PG Now Showing 
Hollywood has approximately five variants of film. 'Kicking and Screaming'
fits into Category C: Children/ group of misfits take on a better
organized, more talented outfit and overcome the odds in an exciting
mishmash of action, comedy and heart-rending schlock. Classics in
this category include 'The Dirty Dozen', 'Escape to Victory', 'The
Goonies' and even 'The Wizard of Oz'. 'Kicking and Screaming' doesn't
have the over-the-top action, wooden performances or musical numbers
usually found in suych films, but it does have the ubiquitous Will
Ferrell. As always, this modern-day mix of Mike Farrell (BJ Hunnicutt from the overly saccharine latter seasons of 'MASH') and David Hasselhoff (sans KIT) provides a solid but strangely two-dimensional performance. He plays Phil, a nervous boy trapped in a man's body, totally dominated by his driven, sporty nerd of a father Buck (Robert Duvall, who curiously enough played Major Frank Burns in the film version of 'MASH'). Buck is a commercial success; Phil is just getting by. Buck continually indulges in one-upmanship with Phil: Phil announces his engagement, Buck announces his - to Phil's old school friend. Baby boys (Sam and Bucky) are born the same day: Bucky is of course bigger. Bucky is talented; Sam can't find his arse with both hands. When Buck begins coaching the boys' Little League soccer team, away we go. Buck leaves little Sam on the bench, finally trading him to the bottom-placed team (the Tigers). Phil begins to coach the team, despite having no experience and no idea. The Tigers are of course a rabble: a group of stereotypical outsiders who fit every nasty and annoying children's stereotype ever honed by Hollywood. We have the large bully who turns out to have a heart of gold underneath his aggressive exterior; the freak who eats worms; the short sighted one; and the lovable (in a Webster/ Arnold from 'Diff'rent Strokes' way) shortcake. The parents of course are not much better; what finally turns this team into contenders is the addition of the two gifted young Italians. Of course, valuable lessons regarding tolerance and human interaction are learnt by all and sundry along the way to Gotterdammerung (the showdown between the Tigers and the Buck's team, the Gladiators). 'Kicking and Screaming' also purportedly shows the disintegration of a normal parent into a maniacal win-at-all-costs coach. This side of the script could have been given more attention and thus provided many more memorable moments than what we end up with. The interaction between normalcy and single-minded focus on winning is really only driven home in one or two scenes. 'Kicking and Screaming' doesn't pretend to be a cinematic tour-de-force. It gently provides several excellent life messages in a form that even children will understand and absorb and, more importantly, be entertained by. It looks like it was fun to make and is performed and produced in a suitably engaging and playful manner. Ferrell and Duvall are both solid while the script is not dumbed down too much. Just don't expect the world, and you'll enjoy it for the harmless, well-meaning piece of fluff it is.  |
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