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I liked this movie. Sometimes a 'simple' movie can be colourful enough, and entertaining enough, without having to be great or artsy. 'Kicking and Screaming' was very formulaic. I actually found myself predicting each step and outcome as the plot unfolded--- the adult abused child, his dad, and his son, and the three generations colliding. The re-play of the overbearing father thing, the adult man vowing to never be like his father, but then getting accidentally caught up in the same dynamic himself. then the sports movie redemption, etc., etc.

It sounds like a cliché, and it is--- but, oddly, I found myself more surprised than annoyed as each cliché denouement surfaced. I kept thinking, as the cliché loomed--- 'Nahhhh... they wouldn't do that. There must be some slick tricky twist coming up.' Nope. No twists, no tricks--- all the clichés play through exactly like you expected them to. But there was a certain courage and honesty about that, which I greatly admired. They had a simple, straight-forward, no-nonsense formula story, which they played out exactly as that. It was very honest.

Robert Duvall--- always great. Will Ferrell, always funny. Mike Ditka, as an actor--- he's a great football coach.

Out of all the talented people who were on 'Saturday Night Live' in the last fifteen years, Will Ferrell is by far my favorite. He's such a charismatic, energetic and hilarious performer. He truly is a comic genius. He's also one of the most successful SNL alumni of all time. For most of the cast members, after they leave 'Saturday Night Live' their careers go down the toilets. But not Will Ferrell, he only improved his career after his goodbye to SNL, with great comedies like Old School, Anchorman, and even, Elf. Whenever you go see a Will Ferrell film you have the strong expectation of it being really good. Well, Ferell's latest effort, 'Kicking and Screaming', is a disappointment of epic proportions. But that isn't his fault. Poor Mr. Ferrell tries as hard as he can to lift this dud off the ground, but he just isn't able to because of the movie's beyond lame screenplay. Yes, those thinking 'Kicking and Screaming', would be the next great Will Ferrell movie are sadly mistaking. I was one of those people, and that's why I left the theater so incredibly disappointed.

The movie is a little league soccer flick, and it circles around the all-too-familiar plot of the dipstick son trying to live up to his non-supportive father. The dipstick is Will Ferrell's character, Phil Weston. He owns a vitamin store, and is always trying to gain the respect of his father, Buck Weston (played by Academy Award Winner Robert Duvall), who owns a chain of sporting good stores and viciously coaches a little league soccer team, which Phil's son is a part of. One day, Buck trades Phil's son to another team because he isn't a good player. This infuriates Phil, and eventually has him coach the team his son has been traded to, to show daddy he's not a screw-up. The movie pretty much follows the competition of the two father-son coaches. Whose team will win the championship? By the end of the movie, you really don't care anymore, and you're looking at your watch frantically to see how much of this waste of film is left.

It isn't so much 'Kicking and Screaming' is a horrible movie, it's just not a good one by any stretch of the imagination. The biggest problem with the film is the screenplay -- it is absolutely dreadful (to quote Simon Cowell to one of the untalented hack wannabe singers on 'American Idol'). It's very amateurish, and it doesn't go places it should to be funny. It's very bland and so conventional it will have you yawning after the 30-minute mark. Although it succeeds being funny sometimes, for the most part it fails miserably at earning laughs. Whoever wrote this trashy script should be banned from the film industry, because it is just awful. The movie is really saved by Will Ferrell, who really puts forth an effort to make the most of his part, but an actor in a film is only as good as the film's screenplay. Ferrell achieves hilarity in some scenes, but most of his lines are embarrassingly stupid and unoriginal. Mike Ditka is actually pretty good playing himself, and Robert Duvall serves as an example of a waste of good talent in this childish sap fest.

In conclusion, 'Kicking and Screaming' is something you should avoid. If you really love Will Ferrell, it just may be worth watching to see Ferrell break out in a violent rage brought on by too much coffee, but for the lot of us it is just plain old cinematic crap. Grade: C- (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, Arizona, 5/13/05)

Kicking And Screaming, is about Phil Weston, who works at a vitamin store and lives with his wife Barbara, and his son Sam. Phil's dad Buck Weston, is very competitive and owns a sporting goods store. Buck coaches one of the little league soccer teams and Phil finds out that Buck, traded Sam to another team. Phil discovers that the new team Sam, is on doesn't have a coach so Phil volunteers. Phil meets Buck's neighbour former football coach Mike Ditka, and finds out that he really doesn't like his father so he agrees to help Phil coach the team. The team also gets two new players who help the team win. Phil, gets really caught up in winning and really wants to beat his dad and along the way he becomes a totally different person obsessed with winning and addicted to coffee. Kicking And Screaming, isn't a terrible movie but it isn't a good one either. Actor, Will Ferrell tries his best here and he doesn't do a bad job and neither do the other actors but the main problem is the script and they aren't really given a chance to do much. The film is a comedy and it didn't make me laugh once. The script was actually pretty bland. It just never really took off. A lot of the humour and jokes feel forced and it just didn't work. The kids in the audience seemed to find it pretty funny and I think that is generally who the movie is aimed at. I wasn't bored at Kicking And Screaming, but I didn't laugh and didn't leave the theater thinking it was a great movie. It felt more like something you'd watch on video. For kids this is probably an entertaining movie but there isn't much there for the adults.

Has Hollywood finally come to realize that families need films they can go to again? I hope so, and with luck films like Kicking and Screaming will help open that door. This is a movie for kids, but also for adults. Will Ferrell is one of the few SNL members who have beaten the curse of the show. His career is actually doing pretty good. From Elf to Anchorman, his roles have been strong and easy to watch. Much like Elf, this family film can be enjoyed by adults as well as children. As Phil, the son of Buck Weston, who sees all competition as nothing more then another conquest and will do just about anything to win all the time. When he coaches a kid's soccer team, Buck actually trades his grandson Sam to another team because he thinks the kid is a lousy player. Phil becomes the other teams coach, but upon realizing he is in way over his head he recruits his dads neighbor and enemy Mike Ditka to help him coach the team. With the help of two Italian ringers, the team starts the crawl up from the lowest rank to the finals and then to the championships. During this climb, Phil comes to realize that in many ways he is just life his dad and sees what he is turning himself and his son into. Folks, it is a family film. There is no nudity, and the worst of the language is "Hell". The closest it comes to sex is a few hits in the groin by various objects. It is the sort of film that tries to tell a lesson in how we look at others and ourselves. Yes, the film is filled with humor, such as when Phil discovers coffee and develops an addiction to caffeine. Watching him as he is banned from the coffee shop is laugh out loud funny. And seeing him as he tries to win a tetherball game against his father will crack a smile now and then as well. No, this is not "Gone with the Wind" nor is it supposed to be. It is just what it is, a funny film about a man who is trying to be a good father and finally understands what that can mean. Mike Ditka is the best thing about the film to be honest. He steals the show with his own personality coming out in the movie. He tends to misspeak or mispronounce names is funny, even when it is expected. "Bing Bong" is a winner, no matter what you do. The film is just fun, and that is all it is supposed to be. It is not supposed to be something you go to expecting a change in your life, but if you are lucky you might learn something.

It's strange how people look at Will Farrell movies & think Will is the funny guy. Will is sometimes a weird guy (in fact in this soccer movie, he is a weird coach). But in most movies, Wills best moments are making others seem funny when they play off of him.

In this movie where the Bad News Bears do soccer in a way, Will Ferrell makes Mike Ditka look good. He makes Robert Duvall look good. He even makes the kids look good. Will is just pretty much himself, weird and a little out of touch with reality. Make that a whole lot out of touch with reality.

Still, the support he gets in this movie is priceless. The concept of the team arriving late at a soccer game in a Butcher truck all wearing bloody aprons is inspired. Some of the other things are creative & cute too. The films end is predictable, but a little different. Overall, it is entertaining for a young audience.

Mike Ditka should find some more movie work. He is pretty good in this, & is missed when he leaves the film for a while.