Balls of Fury [HD]

Goodness gracious, great balls of fury
(To the tune of Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee lewis)

You shake your hips as you paddle the ball
So much work hitting balls that small
Your turn to serve, just watch that curve
Goodness gracious, great balls of fury
I watched this film and I thought it was funny
Though if you rent you'll save some money
Your funny bone will creak and groan
Goodness gracious, great balls of fury

This is an irreverent but funny film about extreme table tennis, and I do mean EXTREME, especially when playing in Christopher Walken's domain. Randy Daytona, (Dan Fogler from Good Luck Chuck) plays the unlikely hero, a former Olympian who discovers that it's a small world after all, and who is coerced by the FBI to play undercover ping pong in a sting operation against Walken's character, Feng.

This takes place nineteen years after his last Olympic appearance, and an out of shape Randy goes through some "Karate Kid" moments with his teacher...

Anyone for Table Tennis?
Even if the title weren't a double entendre, "Balls of Fury" would still be a funny movie. I suppose it's no wonder that something so unnecessary can still be enjoyable; mindless comedies are sometimes a welcome diversion. This isn't to say that all mindless comedies are good. A year ago saw the release of "Beerfest," a film I recommended only for the thrill of watching an awful film trying to work and failing every step of the way. Unlike that film, "Balls of Fury" has actual ambition to be funny, not just through juvenile humor, but also through character development, setting, and plot. This movie is by no means a masterpiece, and I suspect that it will be forgotten fifty years down the line. But for all intents and purposes, it still accomplished its goal of making the audience laugh.

The film opens in 1988, when twelve-year-old Ping Pong prodigy Randy Daytona (Brett DelBuono) competes at the summer Olympics. His crushing defeat put an end to a future in professional...

Uneven, But A Great No-Brainer
Take one part ENTER THE DRAGON with Bruce Lee. Take one part KARATE KID, only with ping pong as a martial art. Take one part RUSH HOUR with mismatched partners and support groups. And one part normal Christopher Walken craziness. Shake well, cut down to 90 minutes, and drive this baby across the screen like a man-eating tiger driven through the jungle before angry drummers.

BALLS OF FURY is definitely not Oscar-winning material. It's not even a real story. It's a loosely defined spy/revenge film with over-the-top acting, humor, and insane moment.

Still, this is one of those movies that never once takes itself too seriously - or seriously at all, for that matter - yet somehow manages to deliver entertainment all the same. The overall plot that hangs everything together is laughable, though not in a good way. It's so contrived that it actually works better that way than if it tried to take itself seriously.

Dan Fogler stars as Randy Daytona. At...

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