Kicking & Screaming (2005) Synopsis:
"Kicking & Screaming" stars Ferrell as Phil Weston, an average Joe who's had to put up all his life with his overly competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall). When Phil decides to coach his 10-year-old son's soccer team, he goes head-to-head for the league championship against Buck, who coaches his own young son on the preeminent team of the league. Old scores come into play as Phil and Buck find themselves going to extreme measures to win the championship trophy.
Kicking & Screaming (2005) Movie Review:
Returning to the nice guy image which Will Ferrell seems to adopt when acting in films that are rated PG, Kicking and Screaming is clearly a film for younger audiences despite the obvious attempts to gain laughs from the adults which bring them as well. The only problem with this is that the children won’t understand, or shouldn’t be hearing, the adult jokes, and the adults are likely to find the children humor sophomoric. Instead of sticking to one style of humor, Kicking and Screaming packs in as many jokes as it can, unable to choose its audience. The result is a film which has little focus and aimlessly drifts towards a predictable ending. That being said, many scenes are sincerely humorous, and although I knew what the point of the film was from the first five minutes of the film, it is a good lesson for young kids to learn and it comes in a package they will enjoy.
Will Ferrell plays Phil Weston, a man who has the most competitive father in the world. Growing up he tried to compete in sports, but he was not very talented and he could never gain his father’s respect. As he grew older his father even began to compete with him, getting married when he did, and even having another son on the same day he had his first. Phil is a nice guy though. He is calm and gentle and somehow understands that winning doesn’t matter. He wants to teach his son that the important thing is to have fun, so when his son’s soccer team needs a coach, Phil volunteers. Phil begins coaching with a good attitude, and they continue to lose. When his father Buck (Robert Duvall), who coaches another soccer team with his brother as the star player, talks Phil into making a bet, everything changes. Phil suddenly begins to obsess over winning, which is somehow linked with a newly formed coffee addiction as well.
Towards the beginning of the film it seems to take all of Ferrell’s energy to and play the character straight. It isn’t until the coffee drinking that he is allowed to stretch his comedic muscles. Even at the most extreme points of the film it still seems as though this is one of the more restrained roles Ferrell has played. On the other side, Duvall does his best to match Ferrell’s intensity, sometimes succeeding but often looking a bit forced. Perhaps the biggest problem with the film, however, is the fact that there isn’t much to the story. The only plot comes in the first and last ten minutes. Everything else is just filler. Most of the middle of the film is filled with montage scenes of random jokes, some of which fall flat. There is no real point to many of the scenes, and they don’t advance the film at all. It feels almost as if they had an idea, got Will Ferrell to star, and created as many opportunities as possible to use his talent, despite the obvious neglect of the film itself.
This is the type of film which usually focuses on the kids, because of the fact that the main audience will be their age, but because of the stars involved they take the background for much of the film. They are often around more as props rather than characters, but in the moments they are allowed to take center stage, they prove able to produce many laughs of their own. It is a talented cast overall, unfortunately lost in a good idea that’s never properly developed.
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Kicking & Screaming (2005) review written by: Ryan Izay
11th October, 2008 
