Double shot of comedy reviews! Kicking and Screaming+Hitchhikers Guide

What should I start with first? Well I will tell you this, one of these reviews people are going to hate me for. I mean, like "I hated Napoleon Dynamite" hate me...

Kicking and Screaming
Will Ferrell doing the kid thing again...and I can't complain

So I went to go see Kicking and Screaming this past weekend since I am a fan of Will Ferrell both on and off of Saturday Night Live. I loved his past couple films such as Old School, Elf, Anchorman, and I loved his cameo's in such movies as Starsky and Hutch. Now most of the movies I listed were either PG-13 or R, however in 2003 Ferrell hit it big with the family friendly Elf. How does his new family outing go? Well, keep reading...

Phil Weston(Ferrell) has never been a good athlete. His father, Buck(Robert Duvall), owns a chain of sporting good stores though and pushes Phil. Phil always feels as if he is living in his fathers shadow. He eventually get's married and has a son. However, on the same day his son is born, his father has a son with his new wife. Flash forward 10 years and we see that Phil's son is now on his father's soccer team. His father however trades his own grandson away to the worst team in the league, the Tigers. The Tiger's coach seemingly disappears and Phil volunteers to coach one game. He however catches the coaching bug as he wants to beest his father's team. Seeing that he basically sucks as a coach, Phil enlists the help of Hall of Famer, and Buck's next door neighbor, Mike Ditka. Mike get's Phil hooked on coffee and this is where most of the laugh's come from. They also get two very talented Italian butcher's apprentices to play on the team as well. As Phil starts to rely more on coffee, his "just have fun" attitude disappears and a new Phil is born. Basically your classic "come back from behind" sports story to say the least.

Some of the biggest laughs in this movie come from Ferrell interacting with the kids. One child in particular is to be mentioned. Beyong Sun is the adopted child of two soccer moms. I liked the joke associated with this since a lot of kids will not get it, unless they are really, really screwed up. Ferrell does show a little bit of edgy humor though with his interactions with Beyong Sun. My favorite line in the whole movie would have to be, while holding up littel Beyong Sun, Ferrell says "Everyone should get one of these, let's pass him around!"

In conclusion I would like to say that this movie is pretty good. Sure, you know everything that is going to happen and you'll root for them all along but Ferrell makes this movie. So go see it with your family and have a good time. Molly Shannon may have had a movie called this, but Will Ferrell is the true SUPERSTAR!!

Final Score
4/5


Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Mmm..yeah...is this supposed to be funny or something?

Mmmm, you feel that? That's one person running to my email bar to write me hate mail. I'm sorry but this movie just did not do it for me. No, I haven't read the books either. I am not a Douglas Adams purest by any means, I am simply just a guy who saw a movie that was based on a book that was based on a radio play that may have been based on a bar of soap.

The movie starts with Arthur(Martin Freeman) waking up to a construction crew outside his house. Turns out his house is going to be demolished. Coincidentally, the whole planet is set for demolition that very same day. Arthur's friend, Ford(Mos Def), informs him of this and decides that they should "hitch a ride" using some kind of intergalactic ring thing that is never fully explained. They eventually get off the planet before it goes boom and their adventure begins. They land on a Volgan ship and are arrested for trespassing. They are then some things and they are set to be ejected from a air lock. They get sent out the arilock and "hitch" another ride with a passing ship that happens to belong to the Galaxy President, Zaphod Beeblebrox(Sam Rockwell). They also hang out with the girl named Trillian(Zooey Deschanel), or Trisha depending on who is talking about her, who happens to have history on Earth with Arthur. Anywaym the one character I actually liked was Marvin the Paranoid Android(Played by Warwick Davis, voiced by Alan Rickman), who is basically a manically depressed robot. A lot of the humor in this was slapstick and stupid. There is some plot involving "the ultimate question" or something but I zoned out at that point. The ending was good with the tour of the construction site of a new Earth but that was about it.

So yeah, I didn't care for it. It's not the worst movie out there but it surely isn't the best. The CGI in this movie wasn't anything to brag about either. However the puppets were quite good and it's refreshing to see puppetts in films now days. As for a comedy, this one sucks. As for a sci fi flick, it's alright I guess. It might have been better if it didn't have such a limited appeal. I mean, I guess some of the jokes were universal but a lot of them just fell completely flat and were unfunny. Some of the gags were also done way too much. We get it, hitting somebody in the face might be funny. Unless you are die hard Hitchhikers fan, skip it. Wait for Star Wars to come out. I have a feeling that that will be money well spent..

Final Score
2/5