Kicking and Screaming

In KICKING & SCREAMING, funny man Will Ferrell's (OLD SCHOOL, ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY) humorous man-child antics meet actual kids on the soccer pitch. He plays vitamin salesman Phil Weston, 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. Upon Phil's begging to get his son more playing time, Buck trades his grandson to the last-place team, the Tigers. Not just any normal cellar-dwelling outfit, the Tigers feature a cast of loveable 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 neighbour and rival, real-life football coach Mike Ditka - hilariously playing himself - the Tigers turn their season around. Fuelled by a raging caffeine habit, Phil starts to overly obsess 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 story-line, being famed musician Bob Dylan's son. Farrell, for once, is content to play straight arrow to the crazy tykes in the first half of the film, before he unleashes his trademark zaniness in the latter half. Those attributes alone, along with fun-loving family themes, make KICKING & SCREAMING a treat for fans both young and old.