Kicking & Screaming (PG)
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Before its screening of this Will Ferrell soccer-dad comedy, the multiplex ran a trailer for Richard Linklater's forthcoming remake of The Bad News Bears (words that no one who saw Waking Life ever thought they'd type), and for a minute it was nice to be reminded of that one brief, shining moment when not every kids' sports movie had to end on a note of growth and personal transformation. Then the main attraction started, and it was back to Meatballs as usual. Ferrell, that human Bullwinkle in an ill-fitting lumberjack build, plays a Milquetoast vitamin salesman whose little boy gets booted off a soccer team coached by his own alpha-male dad (Robert Duvall, trying a little harder than De Niro would have). Naturally, he takes over the boy's new team to settle a lifetime of scores. Directed by Jesse Dylan (yes, Bob's son--a rather Oedipal turn considering the premise), Kicking and Screaming takes far too long to get the Ferrell character hooked on triple espressos under the tutelage of Mike Ditka. (Don't ask.) But before the mawkish, redemptive ending, the protagonist does get to yell unashamedly at grade schoolers, leave little kids moping in misery, and bellow "Loser!" at a vanquished 10-year-old opponent through a construction-cone bullhorn. (Jim Ridley)
Review by Jim Ridley
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