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Movies / Upcoming / Kicking and Screaming
Kicking and Screaming

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Kicking and Screaming (2005)

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Reviews Counted:135

Fresh:56

Rotten:79

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: The script is mediocre and fails to give Ferrell a proper comedic showcase.

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Childrens

US Box Office: $52,580,895

Synopsis: Funny man Will Farrell's humorous man-child antics meet actual kids on this soccer comedy. As vitamin salesman Phil Weston, Farrell's a sensitive man easily capable of both crying and sewing.... Funny man Will Farrell's humorous man-child antics meet actual kids on this soccer comedy. As vitamin salesman Phil Weston, Farrell's a sensitive man easily capable of both crying and sewing. Unfortunately for Phil, these qualities have never quite endeared him to his tough-as-nails father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who will stop at nothing to one-up Phil. He goes so far as benching Phil's 10-year-old son--his own grandson--on the youth soccer team he coaches. When Phil begs for more playing time for the boy, Buck trades his grandson to the last-place team, the Tigers. Not just any normal cellar-dwelling outfit, the Tigers feature a cast of lovable losers who prefer eating worms and telling jokes to playing soccer. When the Tigers' coach leaves, putting the season on the line, an inexperienced Phil steps in to helm his son's new team. With help from Buck's neighbor and rival, real-life football coach Mike Ditka--hilariously playing himself--the Tigers turn their season around. Fueled by a raging caffeine habit, Phil starts to be overly obsessed with beating Buck, losing sight of why he took the job in the first place--to be a better dad to his own son. Director Jesse Dylan (AMERICAN WEDDING) is a natural for the storyline, being famed musician Bob Dylan's son. Farrell, for once, is content to play straight man to the crazy tykes in the first half of the film, before he unleashes his trademark zaniness. Those attributes alone, along with fun-loving family themes, make KICKING & SCREAMING a treat for fans both young and old. [More]

Starring: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Kate Walsh

Starring: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Kate Walsh, Musetta Vander, Josh Hutcherson, Dylan McLaughlin

Director: Jesse Dylan

Director: Jesse Dylan
Screenwriter: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick
Producer: Jimmy Miller
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Reviews for Kicking and Screaming

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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There are a few broad laughs and Ferrell is everything you would expect him to be – irritating, occasionally amusing and sometimes inspired

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/30/05
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Most of the time, [the kids] go along. Most of the time we do, too.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
05/13/05
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Kids-and-sports films are usually a hit-and-miss, but here the combination is funny, irreverent and, thankfully, not condescending.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
05/16/05
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Like air conditioning, it may be recycled, but it’s still cool and, in its way, refreshing.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
05/13/05
Annlee Ellingson
Annlee Ellingson
FilmStew.com

There's just nobody funnier than Will Ferrell.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
05/17/05
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

Presents an almost human side of Will Ferrell. And you know what? He's funnier than ever playing a regular guy. Or, at least, trying to.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
05/13/05
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

As Phil starts to lose it, Ferrell commandeers the movie.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
05/13/05
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

Kicking and Screaming manages the difficult job of being a family comedy that will appeal equally to children and their elders.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
05/12/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Kicking & Screaming gives us Ferrell in top form. As the mentor to a squad of hapless 10-year-olds, he's the least mature person on the field.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
05/12/05
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's not quite as good as Elf but it has enough laughs for kids and for adults -- not always the same ones -- to make it a pleasant enough 95 minutes...

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
05/13/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

There are some who will call this movie horrible. I will not disagree with them. And there are some who will call it hilarious. Again, I will not disagree.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/17/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

Some scenes are just silly, others are dead-on uproarious.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
05/12/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Just watching Ferrell pull faces (for lack of a better term) is hilarious.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/12/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It plays to Ferrell's strengths: his Everyman normality, as well as his gift for silly, merry lunacy.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Trapped inside the seemingly harmless veneer of a PG-rated kid's movie lies a mischievous little devil of a film...

Full Review Source: Lawrence.com | comment Comment
05/13/05
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com

Kicking & Screaming will keep Ferrell’s fans in line and probably families in even longer ones.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

A Will Ferrell cinematic playground. Sit back and enjoy.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/16/05
Frank Wilkins
Frank Wilkins
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Ferrell polishes his screen image as an oversized, oversensitive man-boy out of place in the adult world, and Duvall does a low-comedy, geriatric variation of his Great Santini character.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
05/13/05
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

... Works to the extent that it does only because of Ferrell.

Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | comment Comment
05/24/05
Greg Maki
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

Kicking and Screaming is hardly original, but it delivers what's to be expected — some typical Ferrell shtick, a bit of family-oriented common sense and an object lesson in how not to coach a kids' team.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
05/12/05
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Kicking and Screaming

March 29, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Will Ferrell Goes for the Gold
Two promising new comedies target different age groups and look to close off a red hot March box office with strong opening weekend sales. More...

August 07, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: Will Ferrell Scores His First #1 Opening with Talladega Nights
Comedy superstar Will Ferrell scored his first-ever number one opening in a lead role with the stronger-than-expected debut of his latest hit Talladega Nights: The Ballad of... More...

May 25, 2006: Box Office Preview: X-Men 3 Ready to Rock Memorial Day Weekend
Wolverine, Professor X, and the rest of their soul patrol will launch a full-scale attack on the North American box office this weekend as the gargantuan comic book film X-Men:... More...

February 13, 2006: Trailer Bulletin: Talladega Nights
For those of us who loved "Anchorman" and semi-suffered through "Kicking & Screaming," "Bewitched," and "The Producers" while waiting... More...

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