National Lampoon's Blackball
Vince Vaughn stars as Rick Schwartz, a flashy American sports agent who sees the discovery of Cliff Starkey-a lawn bowling prodigy-as a gateway to stardom and riches. With Schwartz's help, Starkey seeks to dethrone bowls champion Ray Speight (James Cromwell), but the emergence of an ill-timed love interests threatens their plans.
Member Reviews
This is not Dodgeball so don't expect Dodgeball - ronburgundy
Despite the movie's description, Vince Vaughn plays a small role in this one. Not a bad British comedy and worth a look if you like British comedy. If you were expecting the low brain (although I enjoyed it) humour of Dodgeball then you will be disappointed. If you enjoy British comedy you will be plesantly surprised. More of a commentary on the classes.Fresh and Funny - Tinseltown_Tess
Nowadays, it is quite rare to find a comedy that isn't so disgusting and full of offensive humor that you wish you'd gone for a root canal instead. So when you can find a movie that's both funny and smart, you need to snatch it from the rental shelf as quickly as possible.
I was tricked into watching this, as I usually stay far far away from anything with the National Lampoon label. The bawdy humor offered is simply not my thing. However, this was presented to me as a "Vince Vaughn movie",and although Vince himself sometimes takes his humor a little too far, usually I find him very entertaining. Because of my admiration for him,I looked forward to seeing it although I knew little about it.
The movie centers around the sport of lawn bowling, which to my uninitiated (and very Canadian) eye, looks sort of like a curling/bowling/croquet hybrid. Although full of sport movie cliches, and tired old cautionary tales of a too quick rise to fame and fortune, it is actually quite funny. It is very British, with Vaughn's American sports agent the odd man out. Much cleaner than the average lampoon movie, there is little nudity, only a smattering of foul language and some very smart humor.
This is not a "Vince Vaughn movie", although his talent for egocentricity bordering on psychosis is still as funny as ever here. The movie belongs, in my humble opinion, to the old guard of English Actors that make up the supporting cast. These men, among them the great James Cromwell, are truly showing these young bucks how comedy is done.They put the character in character actors, and add a touch of class to the antics of Paul Kaye and Johnny Vegas, and more often than not steal the show away from the two young stars.
Blackball makes a good compromise in the comedy selection for those of us who want to laugh without being too grossed out. It isn't for everyone, but it is much safer than many of the choices out there today.National Lampoon's Blackball - Jana1130
Very disappointing, I guess that when I saw that this movie was put out by National Lampoon I though that it would be good, and I was wrong. Although there are a few funny parts in the movie, overall it was a huge let down. I would not watch it again and I would tell others not to waste their time.
Member Reviews
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This is not Dodgeball so don't expect Dodgeball - ronburgundy
Despite the movie's description, Vince Vaughn plays a small role in this one. Not a bad British comedy and worth a look if you like British comedy. If you were expecting the low brain (although I enjoyed it) humour of Dodgeball then you will be disappointed. ...Fresh and Funny - Tinseltown_Tess
Nowadays, it is quite rare to find a comedy that isn't so disgusting and full of offensive humor that you wish you'd gone for a root canal instead. So when you can find a movie that's both funny and smart, you need to snatch it from the rental shelf as quickly ...National Lampoon's Blackball - Jana1130
Very disappointing, I guess that when I saw that this movie was put out by National Lampoon I though that it would be good, and I was wrong. Although there are a few funny parts in the movie, overall it was a huge let down. I would not watch it again and ...