Kicking & Screaming (2005)

Director:

Jesse Dylan

Writers (WGA):

Leo Benvenuti (written by) &
Steve Rudnick (written by)

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sport

Tagline:

All his life Phil Weston has dreamed of being on a winning team. Phil... your time has come.

Plot:

Family man Phil Weston, a lifelong victim of his father's competitive nature, takes on the coaching duties of a kids' soccer team, and soon finds that he's also taking on his father's dysfunctional way of relating... |

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Children | Boys' Soccer | Snorricam | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Will Ferrell	...	Phil Weston
Robert Duvall	...	Buck Weston
Mike Ditka	...	Mike Ditka
Kate Walsh	...	Barbara Weston
Musetta Vander	...	Janice Weston
Dylan McLaughlin	...	Sam Weston
Josh Hutcherson	...	Bucky Weston
Steven Anthony Lawrence	...	Mark Avery
Jeremy Bergman	...	Hunter
Elliott Cho	...	Byong Sun (as Elliot Cho)
Erik Walker	...	Ambrose
Dallas McKinney	...	Connor
Francesco Liotti	...	Gian Piero
Alessandro Ruggiero	...	Massimo
Sammy Fine	...	Jack

Also Known As:

Kicking and Screaming (USA) (alternative spelling)
Soccer Dads (USA) (working title)
Untitled Will Ferrell Soccer Comedy (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, language and some crude humor.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Canada:PG | Argentina:Atp | Norway:7 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (British Columbia) | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG | Finland:K-7 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The baby in the beginning that is supposed to be Will Ferrell's character is actually a girl.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Phil is calling Ditka a juice box guy the camera changes back and forth from each of them. Ditka's reaction at first is calm then angry then calm and then angry. When the camera goes back and forth on him you can see that as Phil is talking he is calm then when the camera is on him he is angry.

Quotes:

Sam Weston: How do you say pizza in Italian?
Gian Piero: Pizza!
Sam Weston: How do you say "spaghetti"?
Gian Piero: Spaghetti!
Ambrose: Italian's easy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kicking & Screaming: Behind the Net - The Making of 'Kicking & Screaming' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

HOLLA

Mediocre Family Film

After years of dealing with his father's insanely competitive nature, Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) finally gets the chance to meet up to his father's lofty expectations. He starts coaching a kids' soccer team, but as they get closer to the championships, he finds himself turning into his manic father.

The premise isn't exactly new and a movie like this one tends to be on the predictable side. However, sport comedies can be enjoyable and fun so I was expecting a fun little movie from Kicking and Screaming. The film turned out to be mediocre though. It offered a few funny moments but the script is kind of weak and Ferrell isn't given a lot to work with. Screenwriters Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick offer a rather lame script filled with a bunch of clichés and it brings the film down. They seem to be stealing from the Bad News Bears and Little Giants. However, Kicking and Screaming still has a few original ideas and it is a harmless movie.

The acting is okay, nothing special. Will Ferrell gives an okay performance as Phil. Sometimes he manages to be really funny while other times he tries way too hard. Surprisingly, Mike Ditka steals the film from Ferrell and he gives a good performance. His performance isn't going to light the world on fire but at least he does a better job than Duvall. Robert Duvall gives a bad and dull performance as Phil's dad. Comedy is not his element and he should avoid doing it in the future. The funniest kid in the film is Elliot Cho who played Byong Sun. The most annoying kid in the film is Steven Anthony Lawrence since he isn't funny at all. I don't understand what casting directors see in him since he's just annoying and not funny.

Jess Dylan directs and he does an okay job. He manages to come up with a few funny scenes and he keeps the film very simple and safe. While the movie did have it's funny moments, it also had a few dull scenes that weren't all that necessary. The movie is also kind of bland and really predictable. It was also kind of a lazy movie since the filmmakers didn't really try anything new. The good thing is that the movie is only 95 minutes long so at least it wasn't too much of a pain to sit through. Still, Kicking and Screaming is only a mediocre family film and it's kind of a one joke comedy that gets old after awhile. In the end, Kicking and Screaming isn't worth the full ticket price but it might make for a decent rental. Rating 6/10