Universal Pictures, Rated R
Directed by David Zucker
Written by David Zucker & Robert LoCash & Lewis Friedman & Jeff Wright
Well, I don't know if I should review this movie now because, on the one hand, it's out of first run theatres, but on the other NOBODY SAW IT. So plenty of you are probably still wondering whether or not you should. I don't think "South Park's" popularity is on the decline, I think the reason this film failed at the box office average joe had no idea who Trey Parker and Matt Stone are (and the fact that a certain, somewhat better, gross-out comedy got there first). Well, if you're one of them, they created the basic cable phenomenon "South Park" and just happened to be signed on to this latest film from David Zucker, one of the forces behind Airplane! and many other spoofs, at about the same time. In this movie they play two buddies (what a stretch) who invent an amalgamation of basketball, baseball (and a little volleyball), and through sheer luck, it becomes a popular professional sport. The sport is almost Utopian, especially if you're a heterosexual male, since the cheerleaders wear as little as possible. Plus the players are all paid the same and can't be traded. Early on, there is a brilliantly hilarious commentary on why today's sports are no longer what they used to be for some of these exact reasons. But once baseketball goes professional, it's one gag after the other. Which isn't bad because there are enough belly laughs here to make this worth seeing. Zucker, thankfully, hasn't lost his touch. As always, some jokes don't work and those are usually the jokes that try to get laughs on shock value alone. Still some of those are hilarious as well. Parker and Stone are surprisingly good comic actors and definitely have a future in it but after this flop it's unknown if they'll be given a second chance. The cameos are plentiful and good even though many of them made cameos in earlier Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films. The story is derivitive of a million other movies, so it's a good thing that's not what we're here for. Definitely one of the better spoofs in recent years. Everything since Hot Shots! Part Deux has been terribly uneven. So if you weren't one of the dozen who saw it and enjoy this kind of humor, I highly recommend checking it out. But if you don't like this kind of humor, see There's Some... wait, don't see that either, it's almost the same kind of humor. Well, I'm sure there's a Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts romantic comedy on the way for you. ***
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