Starring Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Josh Hutcherson, Steven Anthony Lawrence, Musetta Vander, Kate Walsh
Written By: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick
Directed By: Jesse Dylan
Studio: Universal
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I’m a Will Ferrell fan. I like his movies and think he’s an excellent comedic actor but I think I like him the most when he’s the wacky sidekick or in adult comedies. Though I did like Elf and that was a kid movie but Kicking and Screaming is a decent family sports movie with some laughs.

Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) is a polite & mild mannered Father who’s son is on a soccer team, and his competitive & domineering Father (Robot Duvall) is the coach of the team. Phil’s the opposite of his Dad, but always felt like his Dad was in some competition with him. One day his Father trades his son to the loser team of the league, and Phil decides to coach his son’s team. Phil enlists the help of his Father’s next door neighbor and arch nemesis, Chicago Bear’s coach Mike Dikta. Mike and Phil find some ringers for their team so they can compete with the other teams. They turn out to be two Italian kids who are great at soccer, but they are also Butcher apprentices. Meanwhile, Phil becomes a coffee addict who becomes quite the maniac with coaching the team because he’s trying to beat his Father. He turns into what he always hated about his Father. At the end, Phil realizes what he turned into and changes his ways for the better. He tries to make the sport of soccer fun again for the kids and not have to be so stressed out over the game.

I like family movies here and there. This one was okay to watch, but it just didn’t feel like I was watching anything new & original. This is a remake right, I can’t remember? Will Ferrell is a funny guy but it felt like he was trying to hard in this movie. Kicking and Screaming took awhile to get going but once Will Ferrell starts to take coffee and get all hyper, he was back to his old self. Mike Dikta was pretty funny in the movie, but Robert Duvall just seemed a little out of place in this movie to me. I think it’s funny that Mike Dikta ended up playing himself, but then again the guy has nothing better to do with his life I guess. I think the movie could have been a lot funnier but for a family movie it was okay. I’m sure kids will find the film more funny than I did. I liked how the film showed how involve parents get with their kids’ sport teams, which I just find ridiculous. I think the parents need to take a step back and let the kids enjoy the game. I always witnessed that parents stuff when I played hockey and it wasn’t pretty. But back to the movie, I think the funniest part of the movie was when Phil was hopped up on caffeine and was picking on the opponents. I think I laughed out loud when Phil grabs a kid’s head and slams him to the grass. That was very Old School-ish, like when Frank the Tank pushed a kid out of the way near the pool. It’s little things like that make Will Ferrell great, beating the piss out of kids! Though the jokes like that were sporadic and weren’t like that all the time.

Kicking and Screaming will be enjoyed by kids, soccer moms and people who like Will Ferrell. This movie isn’t your typical Will Ferrell where he’s loud & funny the whole time and that might be my main gripe with it. But then again, it’s not always about Will Ferrell, it’s about the other actors in the movie as well. But they really didn’t do it for me either. There are some extras to watch on DVD if you liked the movie like some deleted scenes, some funny outtakes and a making of. I watched the outtakes and some of the deleted scenes, It’s fun to see people screw up their lines! When it comes down to everything, I’d rather watch Ladybugs, which I think, was a funnier soccer movie with Rodney Dangerfield. Bend it Like Beckham is another good soccer movie but it’s a different type of soccer movie. But this movie is still worth watching on a nice rainy Sunday afternoon.

Features:
The Red Cards: Deleted Scenes
The Yellow Cards: Outtakes
Alternate Takes
Kickin’ It with the Kids – The film’s kid actors reveal the fun and hard work of acting in the movie!
Soccer Camp
“Behind The Net” – The making of Kicking & Screaming Much More!

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes: Phil hopped on caffeine and annoying the opponents
Rating: PG
Running Time: 95 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: