Blackball

Cliff Starkey comes from the rough end of Torquay but is a master bowls player considering that he refuses to set foot onto the snobbish green of Ray Speight's bowling club. When he hears that Australia's hottest young bowlers are coming to England to play England's county champions, Cliff competes and wins - but an insult to Ray gets him a ban. Things look bleak until an American sports agent steps in and makes Cliff the all new bad boy of bowls - the hottest new sport in the UK.

Despite the average reviews for this film and the fact that British comedies are often a very low standard of humour, I decided to watch this film. I was once a bowler myself as a teenager but that played no part in my relative enjoyment of this film. The plot is daft of course but that shouldn't matter as the laughs should make it easy watching; this is sort of the case, but nowhere near enough. The comedy is very broad, which isn't a problem for me; what is a problem is that I wasn't laughing anywhere near enough to support this type of humour. I did laugh but it was inconsistent.

Despite this, the film still has enough rough energy to cover it even when it isn't drawing actual laughs. It is amusing in a very basic way and I found it just about did enough to justify watching. The script could really have done more to up the humour - the dialogue is too basic whereas I really think it could have done with being more off the wall and hilarious. As it was I think it relied too heavily on the daftness of the plot and it's energy to get laughs.

In terms of energy though, Kaye does well. He is quite good but he has a problem brought about by the fact that his character is an unsympathetic idiot from start to finish. This was an issue as you really need an audience on the side of the main character if we are eventually meant to root for him. Vegas is a very funny man - but here he really needed those `off the wall' lines I referred to before; he is still funny here but only by his appearance. God knows why Vaughan did this film but his was the best character simply because it was off the wall and fun; not his best performance but enjoyably silly. Cromwell adds a bit of weight but does seem too good for this. The support cast is full of British comedians - Cribbins, Staunton, Reeves, McNeice are all good and Tony Slattery is given a silly wig and just let loose. Small roles also for Mark Little and Jon Snow.

Overall this is amusing but never really hilarious. It has a few laughs but generally it gets by on raucous energy alone. It is broad and silly but it is worth seeing if you are in a silly mood and not too demanding.

Ok so a film about bowling is never really going to fire the imagination of the average film fan. However it's based on a true story of a young bowler who was banned for calling a member of the selection commitee a rude name. A very rude name.

The bad boy of bowls is born. The film itself and the storyline is a bit contrived and predictable but the acting is first class. Johnny Vegas especially is excellent. See if you recognise one of the Aussie bowlers.

A superb soundtrack as well.

All in all a reasonable film. Not the best but not the worst either.

Typical run-of-the-mill British comedy, the kind of lukewarm stuff we seem to reproduce on a regular basis. Parts of the film are amusing although nothing stands out as memorable and the whole thing is a bit predictable. It is hard to feel anything for the lead character, and the moral stance of the film is not clear. Johnny Vegas lifted the film for me, as he provides some moments of genuine amusement simply by playing himself. Could have been a whole lot better, but on the whole it's watchable as long as you don't expect too much from it.

I did not like the marketing of the film in he UK which sold the film as a comedy with a weird theme, when what the film actually is is a romantic comedy with dramatic moments and hilarious moments about the clash between modern England and the traditional England symbolized by the odd game Blackball. Peter Kaye embodies the post sex pistols generations and delivers a superb interpretation. The story is entertaining, moves fast enough, Mel Smith's directing is sharp and efficient. It should have been a success. Alice Evans is cute enough, a bit on the cold though, as the daughter of the old Speight played by a towering James Cromwell, excellent as always. What an actor! The duet Cromwell/Kaye is unforgettable and works marvelously as the symbol for modern day England generation gap and culture clash. Tasteless marketing impaired the chances of this very good British movie in the theaters.

I think it is fair to say that National Lampoon's Blackball borrows heavily from the whole concept that made Happy Gilmore the success it was. While this was not as good or nearly as popular, it is far better than many of the recent movies National Lampoon has released lately, most recently Holiday Reunion.

Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye) is a renegade bowler with a natural talent to make the balls do pretty much whatever he needs. He knows the trick shots and knows the game inside and out. Due to some childish pranks on his part, he is suspended from the game for 15 years so is reduced to playing only exhibitions. Thanks to Rick Schwartz (Vince Vaughn), who is something of an agent, he builds up Starkey's name as an attraction while at the same time, gets him the endorsements and appearances. Basically, he makes him famous. This is where the bowling league decides they are missing out on a lot of cash by not having him.

The movie moves towards teaming Cliff with his arch enemy in the bowling field, Ray Speight (James Cromwell) against Australia's baddest bowlers, Kyle and Mark Doohan (Mark Dymond & Mark Little). The English team of Starkey and Speight are having problems getting their heads in the game due to Starkey's press coverage of himself with Speight's daughter, Kerry (Alice Evans).

Blackball was by no means as good as Happy Gilmore was, if you are into these types of films, but it is definitely the same genre. The renegade bad boy is bringing new fans and more money to an otherwise dull sport. It is not too high on the list of great comedies, but if you like this type of humor, or National Lampoon for that matter, then it is one of their better efforts since they stopped making the Vacation movies. 6.5/10