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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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Kicking and Screaming

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

There are some funny moments, mostly with the kids, but a lot of this comedy falls as flat as a deflated soccer ball.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
05/13/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

A limping string of laboured sight gags and sentimental clichés.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/13/05
Leah McLaren
Leah McLaren
Globe and Mail

The sound of Will Ferrell on autopilot.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
05/13/05
E! Online

With a formula film, you have to have just the right ingredients to make it work. In the case of Kicking & Screaming, that's Will Ferrell.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/13/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Doesn't quite deliver the comedy goods, but it plays well in spurts and, thanks to Ferrell, remains slightly off-kilter.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
05/13/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

The sort of almost-there family movie for which half-stars exist in ratings.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
05/13/05
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

[Ferrell's] humor is cut off at the knees by sloppy editing, a tedious pace and an underwhelming payoff.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
05/13/05
Christine James
Christine James
Boxoffice Magazine

Rather shakily directed by Jesse (son of Bob) Dylan, who possibly knows something about larger-than-life fathers.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
05/13/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

Once Phil's repressed indignities emerge as a caffeine-fueled rage that makes Ditka tremble, Kicking & Screaming shoves Ferrell into the wacky-land where he excels.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
05/13/05
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

An embarrassment of a movie that shows how deliriously unfunny the former Saturday Night Live star can be with sub-par material.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
05/13/05
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

Kicking & Screaming has an idea, and little more. Well, an idea and Will Ferrell’s slavish comedic devotion. And these days... that’s apparently all you need.

Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | comment Comment
05/13/05
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Now Playing Magazine

[I]neffectual loser manchild Ferrell is up to his usual schtick here, and no ‘joke’ is too inevitable or obvious.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
05/13/05
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

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

It's Will Ferrell yelling at little kids! What could go wrong?

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.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 mostly flat-footed comedy (that) also incorporates liberal doses of the slapsticky-sentimental hogwash that was once Jerry Lewis' calling card.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
05/12/05
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

This is no Bend It Like Burgundy.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

The kind of movie that makes you wonder why anyone would even bother making it in the first place.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/12/05
Kevin Crust
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Duvall, not to mention Ditka, does not a comedy make.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
05/12/05
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A good script is the most essential ingredient for a good movie. Hiring a comedian isn't enough.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
05/12/05
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

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...

See All

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