Blackball (2003) User Reviews

A Damn Good Watch!!!!

[Angel-Shadow · 7/10 · 6 February 2006]

When first being sent this film for Christmas by a few family friends it didn't really strike me as the type of film that i should devote my time to watching, (never judge a book by its cover) , as i always do when doing History work for my upcoming GCSE's i decide to watch a film. Normally this is Shawshank or Pulp fiction or a classic of that nature. Yesterday i decided to crack open Blackball, and i wasn't disappointed. Paul Kay provides in my view his personally career topping performance with a great portrayal as Cliff Starky, with most surprisingly Johnny Vegas pulling of a decent film role. This portrayal of bowls brings a witty, humorous and overall shining side to the sport of bowls and shows that some sports need to escape from their stereotypical, pod so to speak. Vince Vaughn provides a great supporting feature to the film with witty comments and great dialect to bring to live the humour of the film. The film also adds a bit of spice with Alice Evans giving a solid at times attractive performance as Kerry speight and helps the film run smoothly. I feel the real star of the show was James Cromwell who really put this film up from a 2-3 to a 7 showing his experience as and actor and portraying Ray speight perfectly. All together i feel this is a great watch lacking a fantastic plot with witty good humoured fun and at times a very good laugh. I highly recommend you at least give this British film (my proud country :) a try :).

Torquay's answer to "Kingpin"

[rob-236 · 7/10 · 8 September 2003]

A very funny British sporting comedy from Mel Smith (Bean, High Heels and Low lifes), which involves a similar sport, and in turn could be deemed as Torquay's answer to "Kingpin" - its certainly as crazy and entertaining.

Torquay painter and decorator, and local loser - Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye – aka British TV's Dennis Pennis) has a talent - it may not be wallpapering but he has a talent - and that talent is crown green bowls. His uncle (Bernard Cribbins of `Carry On' fame) dragged him along as a youngster every time he played, and with the knowledge of the sport drummed into him along with the games he played with his uncle in order to "stop him going mental" Cliff soon becomes a master of the bowling green.

One problem - The local bowls club can't stand him. One member inparticaular - 15 year running bowls champion, and president, snobby Ray Speight (James Cromwell – LA Confidential, The Green Mile) has a particular dislike of Cliff, he comes from the wrong side of the tracks and strikes up a "friendship" with his daughter (Alice Evans – 102 Dalmatians).

But Cliff's obvious talent surfaces and soon a slimy American agent (Vince Vaughn - Swingers) takes Cliff under his wing and using his TV connections, bowls becomes the biggest and most lucrative sporting attraction since the Premiership – with Cliff becoming the `David Beckham' of bowls. Can he handle the pressure?, Can he inspire the England bowling team to victory over the `undeafeatble' Australian Doohan brothers?, will his `portly' lifelong friend and newly appointed bodyguard Trevor (Johnny Vegas – TV's Happiness) stop clearing out the catering stand? – Watch it and find out, it's well worth an hour and a half of your time.

Great for a gentle Sunday afternoon comedy.

[lairyfairie · 7/10 · 9 February 2020]

8 out of 10 for the kind of film it is. Its not intelligent, gritty or groundbreaking but as a standard underdog versus the top dogs kinda film, it holds up well. Lots of funny moments and a decent cast. Don't be put off by the poor reviews, just make sure you watch it at the right time and in the right mood.

Gentle comedy that we Brits do so well

[wrenster · 5 September 2003]

Ok, so this isn't going to be hailed the new The Full Monty, and doesn't have the romantic edge of Four Weddings And A Funeral, and it may not even have the charm of Bend It Like Beckham, but Blackball is an amusing, sometimes laugh-out-loud tale of the underdog winning through in the end.

Paul Kaye (more famous for his role of Dennis Pennis) plays Cliff, a guy living on a run-down estate but who has a talent for Crown Green Bowls, a sport more recognised for the older generation. But when a team from Australia are storming in the bowls arena, Cliff decides that his only way of getting to play them, is to win a bowls contest for the County Championship, a competition won 23 times in a row by Roy (James Cromwell). Of course he wins, but loses the championship and the chance to bowl for 15 years in professional competition due to a rule that Cliff broke.

The rise to fame is helped by a sleazy sports agent (Vince Vaughn) and Cliff becomes the bad boy of bowls. He also falls for Roy's daughter (Alice Evan s) and in his rise to the big time, almost loses everything that he holds dear to him, from his Grandad (Bernard Cribbins), his best friend (Johnny Vegas) and his girl.

This isn't going to win any major awards and may be forgotten about six months down the road, but it's an undemanding piece of comedy cinema that will have you chuckling all the way through. Nice performances from all involved, and a great soundtrack too.

One of the worst films I've ever seen!

[tsw004 · 2/10 · 28 May 2005]

Run of the mill sports comedy film. You've seen the plot before a thousand times, mega talented but unruly sportsman gets a crack at the big-time and a dull rom-com love interest sub-plot fills the gaps. The film has no build up or background it's just, bang, straight into the story from the first shot which seemed very odd. The main character played by Paul Kay is arrogant and annoying when, as he is the underdog, he really he should be endearing, this distroys the whole point of the film. But my main gripe is that film simply isn't funny, I barely raised a chuckle throughout the entire film. The film is a complete turkey. Even the brilliant Jonny Vegas couldn't save it. Avoid.

Pretty good movie

[deboerpa · 6/10 · 15 February 2004]

Just watched a dvd rip of blackballs, never even heard of the sport of bowls until about 2 hours ago. I gave it a 6, probably the same rating i gave happy gilmore, as it is the British version basically.

Good movie to rent or buy used/cheap.

Sports Comedy by Numbers

[ukpedro · 3/10 · 14 April 2010]

I had expected a fun, simple sports comedy when I saw this. Instead I got a lazy, unfunny, god awful piece of film. Blackball makes a lot of assumptions of it audience, going beyond 'suspension of disbelief' to simply not trying. The love interest effectively appears out of nowhere, falling for the 'hero' at first sight, as he yells at her teenage pupils! The villain is bog-standard 'snob' to the hero's 'slob' but thats what a sport's comedy is, so not a problem. The problem is the young, wild bowler is unlikeable as they come. He's effectively every Adam Sandler character thrown into one but without the redeeming qualities. His relationship with the love interest effectively consists of him being obnoxious and her swooning. It as if the writer took bullet point notes of what a sports comedy is, but forgot why those key points work. At one point there's an 'emotional' moment of victory, barely 15 minutes in, the hero having only had crushing victories. At the halfway mark, apparently the success goes to his head, alienating his loved ones etc. but his personality and actions don't change, he is as irritating and self-centred as ever! There's simply no reason to care. The hero's 'badboy' persona is so overblown and garish, it strikes as a cynical and again LAZY effort. There's a scene where his slick PR agent attempts to win him over through various insincere threats and niceties, while he remains unmoved. That is the definition of this film.

Lazy. This film's only value is as an example of how-not-to.

You may still stay looking until the end even if you can not stay 5 minutes in front of a real match.

[litteuldany · 6/10 · 7 September 2003]

(However I saw some customer leaving before the end of the movie.) Good movie if you keep in mind that the base of it is a absolutely boring game for people as me who do not understand so much at it. I will be sure that is also an outrageous movie for people who are really fan of that game. If you forget the subject, the jokes are not too bad, the movie start very well (good part when Paul K. is coming at the final against James C.) but unfortunately it does not keep the rhythm. A good story ending which may look a bit stupid with a lot of luck for players and reconciliation and bla bla bla... as a "good American movie with a lot of "clichés". However Blackball is a good entertainment.

Unless You Are Interested In Bowls, There Is No Reason To Even Think About This

[JimD73 · 3/10 · 22 May 2005]

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.

great un-sung British comedy

[OllyBishop · 7/10 · 7 September 2003]

this film has gotten mixed reviews and probably won't make a huge amount at the box office, which is a real shame, because although the film is not perfect it is lot better than most of the so-called comedies littering our multiplexes these days.

the genius that is Paul Kaye plays the bad-boy-made-good that takes the sport of bowls from obscurity to the front pages. ever since Dennis Pennis 'died' I've waited for Kaye to equal that comedic performance and feel that he does so here. the story has obviously been done before, lots, but i was never bored during the film, as Blackball has a great originality, and never becomes to preachy. it's because of this that the film is great FUN. Kaye is constant energy and is helped with an always-great performance by another comedy genius, Johnny Vegas.

as the film moves along it is helped by great direction, by Mel Smith, and editing, as well as a kicking soundtrack and some cool cameos from a huge US star(Vince Vaughan), and cult British figures(David Schneider and Statto). how Vaughan got involved in the project I'll never know, but he's not wasted here, in a small but funny role.

anyway, I'd thoroughly recommend going to see this at the cinema(if you're in England) and then with enough support it might get an American release date. this original comedy is a great alternative to the typical English stereotyping of most of our films.

Pretty awful

[cstrother-1 · 2/10 · 16 August 2006]

Maybe I just do not get it, but it seems basically just unfunny, except that Vince Vaughn nearly pulls the whole thing out. When he is on the screen it is highly watchable. Most of the dialog seems mumbled, except that it is all so predictable that you do not need to hear what is actually said. This working class versus high society sports has certainly been done much better. Caddy Shack certainly comes immediately to mind, but so do most sports movies.

I generally like these National Lampoon movies, by the way. Normally no great shakes but decently amusing. This one just seems weak, dilute, uninspired--again, except for Vince Vaughn, who comes across as a giant of a comedian compared to the rest of the cast.

utterly inspired

[Dominix · 10/10 · 11 September 2004]

I hired this film from my local library having run out of decent films to watch and absolutely loved it! Yes, it's stupid, no, we don't know what she sees in him, of course bowls is the most boring game in the world. However the one liners (I'm sorry but the moment before the matrix mention is inspired) the marching band and the leopard print bra speak for themselves. The amazing talent that kept popping up was fabulous and the tension build at the end incredible (especially given the subject). It's a fantastic feel-good movie with romance, champagne, porn, cheerleaders, decorators, rebels and, of course, bowls. I'm going to go and watch it again whilst you all sulk!

Where does National Lampoon get off calling this THEIR Blackball

[RondoHatton · 7/10 · 6 March 2006]

I picked this up from a used bin at a shop in Greenwich along with Mike Bassett England Football Manager, & smuggled it home to the States hidden in box of Whizzo chocolates. I watched it with friends chosen for twisted senses of humor, & we got quite a few laughs out of it, and although Vince Vaughn was a real low point, James Cromwell was a high point. Last week I was in Valdemart, & there it was in the remainders bin as "National Lampoon's Blackball" for $5.00. New, with a couple of different extras. That was rather odd, but hey, it's an odd movie, but I'm glad I own it, & not at all mad that I paid 7.50GBP for it. At least my copy isn't stuffed with stupid previews like most all American disc are. Thank God for region-free DVD players!!

A crying shame, why Johnny, WHY !

[Skaidon · 2/10 · 6 September 2003]

Right, Im not going to bore you with the intricacies of this film, as there aren't any, you've got your basic formula for a cheap sports comedy:

Enter one washed out nobody, who happens to be the don of <insert sport> Said nobody gets big breakthrough, simultaneously falling in love with some random blonde. Said blonde happens to be arch rivals relation blah blah blah

That aside, this film has the staple cheap gags, and the occasional visual gag, but, it never lifts off, sure, it'll make you laugh, but at what cost!

If your a fan of Johnny Vegas, don't bother seeing this, he is wasted in this.

Overall, a boring comedy, with cheap laughs and a blonde or two.

2/10

Very broad and basic but still energetic enough and amusing

[bob the moo · 13 March 2004]

Cliff Starkey comes from the rough end of Torquay but is a master bowls player considering that he refuses to set foot onto the snobbish green of Ray Speight's bowling club. When he hears that Australia's hottest young bowlers are coming to England to play England's county champions, Cliff competes and wins - but an insult to Ray gets him a ban. Things look bleak until an American sports agent steps in and makes Cliff the all new bad boy of bowls - the hottest new sport in the UK.

Despite the average reviews for this film and the fact that British comedies are often a very low standard of humour, I decided to watch this film. I was once a bowler myself as a teenager but that played no part in my relative enjoyment of this film. The plot is daft of course but that shouldn't matter as the laughs should make it easy watching; this is sort of the case, but nowhere near enough. The comedy is very broad, which isn't a problem for me; what is a problem is that I wasn't laughing anywhere near enough to support this type of humour. I did laugh but it was inconsistent.

Despite this, the film still has enough rough energy to cover it even when it isn't drawing actual laughs. It is amusing in a very basic way and I found it just about did enough to justify watching. The script could really have done more to up the humour - the dialogue is too basic whereas I really think it could have done with being more off the wall and hilarious. As it was I think it relied too heavily on the daftness of the plot and it's energy to get laughs.

In terms of energy though, Kaye does well. He is quite good but he has a problem brought about by the fact that his character is an unsympathetic idiot from start to finish. This was an issue as you really need an audience on the side of the main character if we are eventually meant to root for him. Vegas is a very funny man - but here he really needed those `off the wall' lines I referred to before; he is still funny here but only by his appearance. God knows why Vaughan did this film but his was the best character simply because it was off the wall and fun; not his best performance but enjoyably silly. Cromwell adds a bit of weight but does seem too good for this. The support cast is full of British comedians - Cribbins, Staunton, Reeves, McNeice are all good and Tony Slattery is given a silly wig and just let loose. Small roles also for Mark Little and Jon Snow.

Overall this is amusing but never really hilarious. It has a few laughs but generally it gets by on raucous energy alone. It is broad and silly but it is worth seeing if you are in a silly mood and not too demanding.

What a load of balls.

[r_kinder · 2/10 · 21 April 2006]

This film is awful, unfunny, Hollywood-style formula garbage. Quite disappointed that this is a British film - they're usually so good :( Plot - absent (forgivable if there are laughs), with stuff the writers were probably thinking was funny at the time, such as the flaming bowl a'la Jimmy Hendrix flaming guitar, but this film completely fails to raise even a thought of a thought of laughter.

Acting - as good as it can get for such a weak storyline, but James Cromwell's accent is atrocious.

Gave this a 2 as 1 is reserved for real bottom of the pile Hollywood compost. This is best of British compost, so automatically gets a 2 as the accents are much more palatable.

Laughed out Loud

[akilham · 7/10 · 7 September 2003]

A very good British movie which had me laughing out loud. Sometimes the story was a little unbelievable but as long as you can suspend believe for these short periods of time you will enjoy it very much. Go see it!

Avoid this film! It is just awful

[countincrw · 1/10 · 6 September 2003]

If you are a comedian and starring in a film, I would have thought at some point you'd look at your own script. This obviously didnt happen with Blackball, a film so bad even Johnny Vegas isnt funny in it. If I could speak to Vince Vaughn I would say, 'Vince, i'm so sorry, please promise me you never think of starring in a British film again'. The main problem is Kayes character. He starts off as a horrible **** who you hope gets thumped or loses a bowls match or just dies. He doesnt and succeeds but carries on being a real idiot. You dont side with him, you dont see what he's done to woo the girl and you fail to like him at all. We are then supposed to support him. There are no jokes, it's slow paced and before he takes on the Aussies, you wish it had finished. They then play the Australians and the match, altho shown in highlights, feels like you've sat thru the whole match - twice. Just a poor poor film with nothing going for it but a song by Doves. I'd happily never watch any scene in this movie ever again - please don't watch it.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

[johnnyboyz · 5/10 · 2 October 2007]

Here is another example of a sports film trying to go down the route of comedy and, like, most of its cousins failing to be either that funny or particularly memorable. It seems strange that just over a month ago, I saw Woody Harrelson's 1996 comedy 'Kingpin' shortly after believing that there were no such films revolving around ten pin bowling but in Blackball there is a film that revolves around a sport that you could sort of forget even exists and that is Lawn Bowls. Although bowling and bowls are two completely different games yet still offer that sensation of throwing a ball down a track in order to gain you your advance to victory. This may be the only thing bowling and bowls have in common but the films Kingpin and Blackball have a lot more; and it's not pretty.

I think Blackball tries to be the Happy Gilmore (the one comic sports film I actually like) of Lawn Bowls. Blackball disregards the 'spirit' and sophistication of the sport by having some lout from a small time painting job play a game his persona isn't suited for, it's the same with Happy with Golf since he was loud and aggressive and Golf is anything but. Blackball disrupts the passage of bowls by having its star Cliff Starkey (Kaye) take to the lawn to the Rocky theme tune and even has his own little 'come out' scene (similar to the way a WWE wrestler enters before a match); the film also has the odd Mexican wave at the match in which the young instigate it and the elderly shy away from early on. While this is innovative in a way since you don't associate these images with the location, it's also trying to be funny but funny it isn't. Maybe it's because I play Golf that I could laugh and enjoy what Happy Gilmore did and that's give Golf a 90 minute facelift, a change, an 'escape' but here it feels like the writer and director have just sat down and gone out of their way at a very basic to try and make bowls stick out: "Whatever happens at a bowls match, we'll just do the opposite of." The story for Blackball is also limited in more ways than one. First; its underdog from nowhere who goes on a journey 'out of water' is a little tired – the most obvious example of this is when he arrives at a London hotel and can't believe his posh surroundings: a very blatant example of how unused he is to large rooms, clean linen and a window with a view of something other than factory chimneys.

Secondly, the whole drive for this film narrative-wise is: Australia versus England and it tries to exploit the sporting rivalry between the nations as much as possible for laughs that don't come. In the calendar year of 2003 when this was made; England had lost to Australia in a Davis Cup Tennis match in a pretty tame fashion; they'd beaten us 3-1 in a Football match in London, they'd successfully retained The Ashes at Cricket every time since 1987 and thumped us in the 2002/03 series round about the time of this film. Of course, since then we've beaten them in the Rugby World Cup final which was actually held in Australia and regained The Ashes in 2005 in what was, arguably, one of the greatest Cricket Test series of all time but the propaganda that possess the film is evidently pre-these victorious events and has since sort of become redundant as England have actually beaten Australia at a sport in genuinely important circumstances. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the film is lacking atmosphere because of this.

Twinned with these things that stick out, the film has a very small amount of conflict. Blackball starts off like a rocket before he is disqualified for a certain reason and that's when the film becomes a little bogged down as the hero as well as the film has to restart. His affair with a rival's daughter and its demise also takes up the bulk of the film as does is friendship with Trevor (Vegas) who he just ignores too much. It's at this point when his celebrity status acts as the main gag for the film and it doesn't work at all and a great deal of hate builds up because of Cliff's immaturity and poor social skills. You might like Blackball if you're a Lawn Bowls player who gets to see the sport you play and love get turned upside down like myself, Golf and Happy Gilmore but for the majority, Blackball will be a disappointing and unfunny film that covers too much familiar ground to really enjoy.

Crude, rude and ever so average

[dogatemyhomework · 5/10 · 7 September 2003]

As with American comedies, it seems the British can only attempt three types - the twee family film, the ever-similar rom-com, and the crude, rude, lewd toilet humour. This film fixes itself quite happily in the latter camp.

The story of a council estate 20-something taking the peaceful world of lawn bowls by storm in a manner usually reserved for drunken football hooligans has a whiff of Kingpin about it, not least in the jazzed-up final match (complete with neon lights, mascots and baying crowds). Like all sports movies, the film adds a romantic sub-plot, the value of friendship, a rags-to-riches-isn't-always-good theme and, of course, redemption through sportsmanship and teamwork. Like all crude comedies, this film tries to get laughs via jokes based on sex, bodily functions and swearing.

When it is most successful, this film is not concentrating on our protagonist Cliff Starkey, but on the elderly gents who find their pastime shaken up by this upstart. Whenever Cliff himself appears on screen, the next F-word isn't far behind and you know that we'll just get a series of bargain-basement gags.

The glitzy finale manages to garner a few laughs in their presentation of what is widely considered to be a dull game as a massive national event, but even here we find nothing new - the computerised statistics, the rule-changing Thunderbowl option and the half-time cheerleaders are typical examples.

You have seen this film many times before. Only this time it is packaged slightly differently. If you've seen the trailer or read the plot outline: yes, the film is exactly as you expect it to be.

Nice surprise

[james-rand · 9/10 · 17 January 2005]

Well I was looking in my video shop for a 7 day rental (ie all those old films people don't want to watch any more), and was feeling quite hungover, so I didn't want to waste too much time. I grabbed this because I've always liked Paul Kaye, and can honestly say its one of the funniest films I've seen in years. I'm not usually a fan of British comedies, they tend to be a bit cheesy I think, but this was top class, I'm really surprised that no-one I know has mentioned it before.

If your a fan of bowls, then this might not be for you, as it does take the mickey out of this age old sport. I was surprised to learn that it was (loosely) based on a true story.

Some excellent cameos in it as well.

If you've not seen it, see it. If you've seen it, good.

What was supposed to be a comedy, turns out to be an frustrating combination of clichés, bad writing and lackluster cameos

[bots-de132 · 4/10 · 1 July 2011]

This movie was bland, boy was it bland. Well its about Cliff Starkey(played by the rather annoying Paul Kaye) who is a bowls player(I didn't know anything about the sport when I saw this, what I can assume is that its like Curling and Bowling). Well, this "plot" that he became champion at a local country club, but the "Dean-esque" country club faithful hate this and he gets banned. He and the obnoxious Vince Vaughn(did he own something to the director) turn it in to a glorified sport. However, I like Kaye's performance till the second half, when they made conflict out of thin air. This movie was passable but no way worth seeing.

The Happy Gilmore Of Bowls.

[BigHardcoreRed · 22 March 2005]

I think it is fair to say that National Lampoon's Blackball borrows heavily from the whole concept that made Happy Gilmore the success it was. While this was not as good or nearly as popular, it is far better than many of the recent movies National Lampoon has released lately, most recently Holiday Reunion.

Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye) is a renegade bowler with a natural talent to make the balls do pretty much whatever he needs. He knows the trick shots and knows the game inside and out. Due to some childish pranks on his part, he is suspended from the game for 15 years so is reduced to playing only exhibitions. Thanks to Rick Schwartz (Vince Vaughn), who is something of an agent, he builds up Starkey's name as an attraction while at the same time, gets him the endorsements and appearances. Basically, he makes him famous. This is where the bowling league decides they are missing out on a lot of cash by not having him.

The movie moves towards teaming Cliff with his arch enemy in the bowling field, Ray Speight (James Cromwell) against Australia's baddest bowlers, Kyle and Mark Doohan (Mark Dymond & Mark Little). The English team of Starkey and Speight are having problems getting their heads in the game due to Starkey's press coverage of himself with Speight's daughter, Kerry (Alice Evans).

Blackball was by no means as good as Happy Gilmore was, if you are into these types of films, but it is definitely the same genre. The renegade bad boy is bringing new fans and more money to an otherwise dull sport. It is not too high on the list of great comedies, but if you like this type of humor, or National Lampoon for that matter, then it is one of their better efforts since they stopped making the Vacation movies. 6.5/10

It's Just A Movie

[FiendishDramaturgy · 4/10 · 23 March 2007]

This was a very basic comedy/drama with good performances and enough energy to keep it interesting...well, as interesting as it CAN be, considering the subject matter.

I'm not into the game featured here, but I still found the flick amusing, in spite of the local-centric nature of the setting. Adequate tension is generated during the actual event itself, to make it decently enjoyable, but what made it entirely tolerable was the likability of the characters.

It was okay. There's nothing actually special about this work, yet it was (very) mildly entertaining, so it wasn't a total waste of my time.

It rates a 4.0/10 from...

the Fiend :.

No laughs, no reason to care about the star

[FlushingCaps · 2/10 · 15 January 2015]

Blackball seemed like it might be worth a look, based on the on-screen plot description when I was looking through all the free premium channels offered on my satellite system last weekend. Last night we viewed it and found it to be an utter bore.

This is the first movie I've ever seen that has any focus at all on lawn bowling, called "bowls." If you are like most of the people around the world and know little about this sport, after you see this film, you will still know little, but a tiny bit more than before. However, after being introduced to this sport by this movie, you are not likely to become a fan of it in any way.

Paul Kaye's lead character, Cliff, was an obnoxious lout who possessed one of the foulest mouths I've ever seen on the screen, dropping F-bombs haphazardly into almost every conversation. While I don't care too much when foul language is used in appropriate situations, I do object to it being used for so many situations that it has virtually no meaning in the conversation. That is what Cliff and others do in this film.

The most disturbing thing about Cliff is the stupidity he demonstrates. Supposedly determined to represent England in a competition against Australia, he works for some time to win a county championship that, somehow, will get him selected to represent England. Yet just as he accomplishes the goal, he commits an act of stupidity that the officials in charge not only decide is so egregious that he not only cannot be selected to represent England in the near future, but he is banned from all competition in bowls for 20 years.

I can easily deal with a "hero" who has flaws, but Cliff is such a jerk that we viewers never are given any reason to want him to triumph. He is given a love interest and we don't see why the girl cares for him. He gets an American sports agent who manages to get the ban overturned and he is then chosen for the big match against Australia. He is to team in a doubles match with the father of his girlfriend, the longtime club champion who has never represented England, before, for reasons that were never satisfactorily explained.

In the spirit of all of the worst sports movies ever filmed, the finishing scenes contain all of the expected cliché devices as we watch our "hero" attempt to win the big match. I endured it all for reasons I do not understand. My wife, the wiser of us, wisely fell asleep less than halfway through this film.

The drama was utterly predictable, the laughs were almost totally missing and the reason for making such a dull movie is something I cannot explain. I don't think my negative impression has anything to do with my lack of expertise in lawn bowling because the rules are very much like curling, a sport I have enjoyed over a hundred times on TV and in person. I cannot give this a score higher than a 2.