Lady Ballers

Watched Lady Ballers this morning. It's available only on Daily Wire+. The movie reminds me of comedies from the 80's or 90's; silly and irreverent. No nudity, but there are some racy jokes about body parts and bedroom acts.

Jeremy Boreing plays the head coach of a men's basketball team who all decide to identify as female to win a women's tournament. The jokes practically write themselves. To be honest, some land and some don't. Enough land, however, to rank LB at 7/10.

Matt Walsh playing against type as "Kris" the hippie was delightful. Couldn't stop laughing whenever he was on screen. And, the actress who plays coach's daughter is very sweet. She steals the opening scene.

What I didn't expect to be so wow-ed by was the musical score and beautiful drone shots of Nashville. The opening theme song is earnest and oh-so cheesy; a la American Flyers. Love it! There were lots of musical changes of pace, too, like the switch to an old-worldy accordion tune for the scene where coach is getting roughly handled by the dominatrix reporter. "Furnace burn!"

I've also got some quibbles. For example, the final, fade-to-black image was totally unrelated to the rest the movie. Just oddly edited. Also, the players were too often either fighting or high fiving. That got old quick; as if dudes can't just sit and chill without punching each other.

Overall, it was fun.

Ladyballers exceeded expectations. I expected a very pointed message with some weak comedy and production flaws.

The Daily Wire probably can't get many Hollywood actors onto a project b/c the actors would be afraid of backlash, even if the film had no political leanings--but still, they managed to find some good talent. Jeremy Boreing and Billie Rae Brandt both have star-quality. Fischer and Cone also great, but really the whole team worked. I was looking for weak links in the cast and didn't find any.

The cameos were okay, not bad. The best being B. Cooper and M. Knowles as the news anchors. Their arc was hilarious and their delivery was perfect. And quite fearless with the costumes, I love that.

The humor landed pretty well, some parts better than others. Most comedies are like this. I didn't find the "how much" guy very funny. I loved the badger stuff, that made me laugh pretty hard. I also enjoyed all the shots they're taking at the journalist class. That's long overdue. The Jeremy's razor commercial in the middle of the movie was very funny, pulled off in just the right way.

And obviously the satire's message is spot on. Everybody knows these things are true, everybody knows the emperor is naked, but everyone's afraid to speak up.

Satire isn't just preaching. There are definitely some preachy moments in the movie (and I didn't mind them probably b/c I agree with the sentiments), but this still works as satire b/c the ideas are embodied well by the story on the whole.

It also had better production value than I was expecting. They definitely dropped some money on all the extras in the last game. The score/soundtrack was a highlight, very good music, which is important. The tone was consistent. The cinematic elements were all competent. Lighting was good. I'm not a fan of the murky "realistic" lighting movies are obsessed with now. Just make it look good.

And the end delivered. It was perfect to see the lady ballers get their comeuppance and get a taste of their own medicine. I loved how they worked in the coach giving "inspirational" speech trope and played with it in various ways.

And I liked how genuinely heartwarming the ending was with the little girls team. The old comedies usually try to pull some heart-strings in the end and typically fail, but here it definitely worked. The father-daughter relationship was very lovely.

I expected a movie I would be a little amused with and probably have to endure, but we ended up enjoying it thoroughly and we didn't interrupt watching it once.

I'd give the humor a B+. The heart/feeling an A-.

And the satire an A.

"Lady Ballers" was a film I approached with some anticipation, given its intriguing premise. However, I found it to be disappointingly shallow and pedantic. The acting across the board was underwhelming, contributing to the film's overall lack of depth and engagement.

A critical drawback of the movie was its humor, or the lack thereof. The jokes felt forced and failed to elicit the intended laughter, detracting from the viewing experience. This issue could partly be attributed to the script, which seemed to need more refinement. The potential for a successful comedy was there, but it required a sharper and more experienced comedic writer to bring it to life.

The film appeared to serve more as a vehicle for promoting Jeremy Boreing's businesses than as a piece of entertainment. This focus undermined the story's authenticity and the characters' relatability.

Tyler Fischer's presence in the film was a lone bright spot. His natural comedic talent shone through, despite the limitations of his role. Fischer's performance gives me hope for his future projects, as he clearly has the potential to excel with better material.

In conclusion, "Lady Ballers" misses the mark in several key areas, making it a less than satisfying watch. The concept was promising but was let down by lackluster execution and a script in need of a few more rewrites. It's a 4 out of 10 for me, primarily saved from a lower score by Fischer's brief moments of comedic relief.

I wanted to like it. I get what they were going for, and it's worthy of praise coming from such a small studio with such a low budget. I hope this isn't the last in this genre from DW.

That said - wow. Not up to par of the classics it was marketed as. Airplane, Dodgeball, Blazing Saddles, Topic Thunder: it's none of those things. I think it could've been with some extra elbow grease and less confirmation bias in the studio.

The criticism that many Christian movies get is that they focus too much on the message and not on the core story and quality of the film. Same issue here. I get they had some quality limitations, but I wish they would've waited to really hone in the story and make sure the lines packed a punch.

Best parts are all the cameos. These are genuinely good and appreciated.

Not sure why we needed the subtle dominatrix thing. Just another example of something that made me cock my head sideways and ask, "Really? Necessary?"

Overall, I know I'll make some people mad for not absolutely loving it, but it is what it is. They want quality content? I'm happy to be the critic for the next future success. I'm aware I'm not the man in the arena, but I don't care.

I'm a DW supporter, and I want them to produce great content. This is only OK.

Run hide fight was good, not great.

Terror on the prairie was ok, Shut in was rough What is a woman was great doc Convicting a murderer was great doc

First of all. 1h52m is way too long for a comedy, unless it is absolutely amazing. Should have been 80 minutes. We found ourselves struggling to get to the end. It's a comedy, get in there, make the jokes, get out on a high point, fill it with a story with a remotely plausible plot.

I like them using DW folks for some of the actors, but Boreing as a lead fell pretty short. Some parts of his acting was fine, most was not. Didn't seem natural. Probably keep him to cameos only going forward.

The plot was weak on the whole. The idea was great, but execution is tough I guess. Comedies are not supposed to be the most cerebral of genres, but if all you're standing on is the jokes, they better bring the heat.

The writing/dialogue was fine for the most part.

Jokes were okay without being excessively mean spirited.

They are a new studio, so I am hopeful they will improve.