Balls of Fury Review

Overall 3.25 of 5 view all 4 reviews

roserighter
Milford, MI

Not impressed by the fury of balls.

Every day computer user, a woman, DVD collector, a movie guru, into movies that tell a great story, a fan of clever plots, comedy fan, character-lover

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Pros

Laugh-out-loud moments, Christopher Walken

Cons

Some parts didn't make sense, Plot not fully developed, No real point to the movie, Most funny parts given away in previews

JAN

2008

Balls of Fury —

My hubby and I watched Balls of Fury last night on DVD. It looked so promising from the previews. The underground world of table tennis? I often end up like movies that are so stupid, they are funny. Blades of Glory had me laughing so hard. Unfortunately, Balls of Fury didn't deliver.

Plot Summary

Randy Daytona, played by Dan Fogler, is a has been. He was a professional ping pong player at the age of 12. His dad lost the bet on his game and he was killed. Fast forward 19 years and he is an overweight, struggling performer who gets fired on the same night he is visited by an FBI agent, played by George Lopez, who needs his help.

Daytona then goes into training to compete in the underground ping-pong competitions. His trainer, Master Wong, is blind and takes a lot of heat for training a white guy. To prove himself, Daytona must fight "The Dragon." He is expecting someone fierce, but is challenged by a young girl who likes to kick him in the groin. Apparently, she is a sore loser.

Eventually Daytona is invited to the special competition where he learns the true meaning of sudden death. He fights Feng, his father's killer, in an ultimate game of ping pong. They are wearing special vests and they get a jolt of electricity with each point scored against them. The first to win three points gets to live.

Plot Problems

Daytona trains with Master Wong's niece. He is forced to play with a wooden spoon and he's terrible at it. Then he goes into competitions and he is good again. There is nothing showing his improvement over time.

Also out of nowhere is a relationship between Daytona and his kick-ass trainer. She goes from cussing him out and putting him in his place in one scene to making out with him and longing for him in the next. The idea of them having a relationship is hard to grasp anyway because they are from completely different worlds and status levels.

Either the plot was never fully developed or there was too much left on the cutting room floor.

My Recommendation

Though there were a few laugh-out-loud parts and Christopher Walken was entertaining, I don't suggest wasting your time on Balls of Fury. I wasn't impressed by Fogler (was Jack Black unavailable?) and the storyline didn't work for me. It reminded me of a ping pong version of The Karate Kid.