“Balls of Fury” (Rogue Pictures)
Funnier Than You Expect
“Balls of Fury” is a movie made just for fun, and there is more fun to be had watching it than you would expect. Broadway actor Dan Fogler channels his innermost Jack Black and creates a winning persona who leads the film to comic highs. Christopher Walken and James Hong add to the fun.
Randy Daytona (Fogler) was once a ping pong prodigy but an agonizing defeat drummed him out of the game. Years later he is playing the seedy venues of Las Vegas when he is approached by an FBI Agent named Ernie (George Lopez). He is told that he needs to play in a ping pong tournament hosted by the evil Feng (Walken). This in some way will help the government capture Feng.
In order to get back in shape Daytona has to study with the ping pong expert Master Wong (Hong). Daytona also receives help in getting his game back from Wong’s daughter Maggie (Maggie Q).
The training, the tournament and the treachery are all played for laughs with some of them being corny to the extreme and others being just as clever. Not every joke finds its mark but a lot of them do, certainly enough to make the whole film pleasurable.
Fogler is not your typical leading man. He is overweight and ordinary looking, but he knows how to take a fall and has enough facial expressions to punch up a joke. He also is endearing in a puppy dog kind of way. You cheer when he wins the girl and the tournament.
Walken is just weird enough to be fascinating. He is slumming in this movie but he does it with panache. He isn’t above low humor and his affected mannerisms add to every comic scene in which he appears.
Hong plays a blind master of ping pong and that sets up a million jokes, each one hokier than the preceding one. The fact that Hong seems to be having a good time takes away any embarrassment from seeing a “blind man” involved in such antics.
There are many comics who have small roles in the film. These include Aisha Tyler, Deidrich Bader, Jason Scott Lee, Thomas Klennon and Masi Oka (“Heroes”). They all add to the total enjoyment of the movie.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity and some crude humor.
“Balls of Fury” is the kind of movie you go to see not expecting it to be anything great and then are surprised by how funny it is. It isn’t a laugh riot but there are enough good jokes to keep the movie rolling.
I scored “Balls of Fury” a ping ponged 5 out of 10.
