Lawn bowling. Chances are you may have never heard of it. I, on the other hand, happen to know a lot about it, thanks to my father being the two-time Canadian champion. I've been bowling a few times before, and even though I suck, it isn't all that bad a sport. When I heard about National Lampoon doing a spoof on lawn bowling, it was something I was pretty much obligated to see. Then again, National Lampoon hasn't made a really good movie since Christmas Vacation, so my expectations weren't very high. So, how well does Blackball roll?
PLOT: 17/25: Cliff Starkley (Kaye) is a young punk in England who has taken a liking to the sport of lawn bowling, despite his over-the-top attitude. In fact, he is one of the best the sport has seen in a long time, aside from maybe current club professional Ray Speight (Cromwell). After winning the title from Speight, he is given a 15-year ban from tournament games because of writing an offensive message on the scorecard. After this, however, he develops a romance with Speight's daughter Kerry (Evans), who is tired of her father's obsession with bowls. He is also picked up by super agent Rick Schwartz (Vaughn), who finds loopholes in the ban and turns Starkley's wild approach to lawn bowling into a national phenomenon. The old club promoters, realizing how much they could get for bringing Starkley back, try to convince Speight to drop the ban.
Meanwhile, celebrity status starts to get to Starkley's head, who begins to alienate himself from his grandfather (Cribbins), his best friend Trevor (Vegas) and Kerry.
If you can say anything about the plot, it is original. The subject of lawn bowling isn't your general cannon fodder for comedies. Granted, the same type of plot has been done many times before, but this puts a new twist on it. Originality counts for a lot in comedies, so I'll be generous here.
COMEDY: 4/25: I remember laughing maybe five times in the whole movie, and nothing really too funny. Most of the humour is derived from the general perception of the sport, such as the old age of the players (50 year olds are frequently called young) and the general etiquette of the lawn bowlers. However, the perception is off. As someone who has been to these places before, I can vouch that the players are mostly old, and my near-50 year old dad seems young by comparison. There are some young bowlers, but for the most part it is rare. But that is in Canada. In England, bowling is much bigger there and still draws a younger audience. Also, they only concentrate on the country club, saying that the others could never get a good green. Around the England area, there are plenty of other greens that are not for country clubs, but for the public.
Just that the facts don't agree isn't a good reason to say the comedy sucks. The whole point is it is not a funny movie. I would be the type to laugh at this stuff, because I can identify with some of it, but it just isn't funny.
ACTING: 11/25: The acting is pretty mediocre. Kaye may be the protagonist, but his acting ruins the movie. He tries to hard to be funny, but is such an jerk no one sympathises with him, which is necessary for the audience to like the movie. The fact he never gets his comeuppance annoyed me to no end.
Vaughn (Old School) is just about as good for the role of Rick as anyone else in the universe. While he did a great job, I still can't help but think the script should have been better for him.
The one standout good performance is from James Cromwell (Babe), who fits right into the deck shoes of a lawn bowler and keeps a professional look the whole way through. Even his bowling stance is good. The script isn't all there for him either, but he manages to make it work for the most part.
The acting could have been better, but partly Vaughn and mostly Cromwell saved it from total disaster.
ENTERTAINMENT: 6/25: If you don't know bowls, there is no reason at all to see this. If you do know bowls, I would only recommend it if you are really bored and have nothing better to do. Then again, most people who are into bowls aren't into National Lampoon, so this movie ends up being a major waste.
TOTAL: 38%: This movie is a waste of time and money. It has few laughs, unrealistic bowling and a real jerk of a lead. Just avoid this movie unless you really need time to kill and are interested in bowls.
PLOT: 17/25: Cliff Starkley (Kaye) is a young punk in England who has taken a liking to the sport of lawn bowling, despite his over-the-top attitude. In fact, he is one of the best the sport has seen in a long time, aside from maybe current club professional Ray Speight (Cromwell). After winning the title from Speight, he is given a 15-year ban from tournament games because of writing an offensive message on the scorecard. After this, however, he develops a romance with Speight's daughter Kerry (Evans), who is tired of her father's obsession with bowls. He is also picked up by super agent Rick Schwartz (Vaughn), who finds loopholes in the ban and turns Starkley's wild approach to lawn bowling into a national phenomenon. The old club promoters, realizing how much they could get for bringing Starkley back, try to convince Speight to drop the ban.
Meanwhile, celebrity status starts to get to Starkley's head, who begins to alienate himself from his grandfather (Cribbins), his best friend Trevor (Vegas) and Kerry.
If you can say anything about the plot, it is original. The subject of lawn bowling isn't your general cannon fodder for comedies. Granted, the same type of plot has been done many times before, but this puts a new twist on it. Originality counts for a lot in comedies, so I'll be generous here.
COMEDY: 4/25: I remember laughing maybe five times in the whole movie, and nothing really too funny. Most of the humour is derived from the general perception of the sport, such as the old age of the players (50 year olds are frequently called young) and the general etiquette of the lawn bowlers. However, the perception is off. As someone who has been to these places before, I can vouch that the players are mostly old, and my near-50 year old dad seems young by comparison. There are some young bowlers, but for the most part it is rare. But that is in Canada. In England, bowling is much bigger there and still draws a younger audience. Also, they only concentrate on the country club, saying that the others could never get a good green. Around the England area, there are plenty of other greens that are not for country clubs, but for the public.
Just that the facts don't agree isn't a good reason to say the comedy sucks. The whole point is it is not a funny movie. I would be the type to laugh at this stuff, because I can identify with some of it, but it just isn't funny.
ACTING: 11/25: The acting is pretty mediocre. Kaye may be the protagonist, but his acting ruins the movie. He tries to hard to be funny, but is such an jerk no one sympathises with him, which is necessary for the audience to like the movie. The fact he never gets his comeuppance annoyed me to no end.
Vaughn (Old School) is just about as good for the role of Rick as anyone else in the universe. While he did a great job, I still can't help but think the script should have been better for him.
The one standout good performance is from James Cromwell (Babe), who fits right into the deck shoes of a lawn bowler and keeps a professional look the whole way through. Even his bowling stance is good. The script isn't all there for him either, but he manages to make it work for the most part.
The acting could have been better, but partly Vaughn and mostly Cromwell saved it from total disaster.
ENTERTAINMENT: 6/25: If you don't know bowls, there is no reason at all to see this. If you do know bowls, I would only recommend it if you are really bored and have nothing better to do. Then again, most people who are into bowls aren't into National Lampoon, so this movie ends up being a major waste.
TOTAL: 38%: This movie is a waste of time and money. It has few laughs, unrealistic bowling and a real jerk of a lead. Just avoid this movie unless you really need time to kill and are interested in bowls.