Can a guy edging into middle age become a success fighting guys half his age? That's the big question behind this independent comedy. Jerry Ferro (Adam Carolla) is almost 40 years old, and he's spent most of his life going nowhere -- and taking his own sweet time getting there. While Jerry enjoyed some success as an amateur boxer when he was young, these days he's out of shape, drinks too much, and scrapes by working in construction. Through his work as a handyman, Jerry has landed a part-time
job teaching boxing at a gym in Pasadena, though none of his students are likely to ever move beyond sparring as a hobby. One day, one of Jerry's old friends, Eddie Bell (Tom Quinn), stops by the gym with a promising new fighter he's training. Since he's short on sparring partners, Eddie asks Jerry to step into the ring with the young boxer, and while it's clear that Jerry is in lousy shape and out of practice, he also manages to knock out the challenger with one well-placed punch. Eddie is convinced Jerry still has what it takes, and offers to help Jerry make a comeback, confident that despite his age he can land him a spot on the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. Also starring Heather Juergensen, The Hammer received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Yes, this comedy about a sad-sack, has-been boxer is painfully predictable and manages to include every cliche of the genre, but executive producer and star Adam Carolla keeps it rolling along with his trademark, deadpan rants.
I never would have guessed that Adam Carolla, the politically incorrect radio and TV personality, could hold his own in a movie, but here's The Hammer to prove me wrong.
A nearly comatose comedy that spends its time just bum-stumbling along, never putting in the work necessary to land a solid joke or develop a winning character.
So many movies these days are overworked or overblown: The Hammer feels genuinely tossed-off. It isn't a great movie, or even a consistently good one. Yet it gets to elusive feelings about failure and success, hope and mortality.
All The Hammer really adds to the boxing-movie canon is the refreshing air of not worrying about adding anything to the boxing-movie canon. That, and being funny.
To his credit, Carolla carries 'The Hammer' with self-assured ease, hoisting the film on his broad shoulders while making sure, as screenwriter, to leave some of its sharpest one-liners to his supporting cast.
Adam Carolla isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the man can sling around an acidic one-liner with the best of them, and his starring debut is a familiar, but persuasively funny brew of clichés and belly laughs.
Carolla is winning in The Hammer, which evokes Rocky and just about every other lovable-loser sports movie while showing enough comic originality to hold interest throughout.
I love my Adam. Not just that. I love that it was a low budget film, yet it still told a beautiful story.
March 23, 2008
Nani V
Super Reviewer
Adam Carolla plays a boxer turned contractor turned boxer in this comedy that turned out to be better than you expect- just not by much.Carolla's character, Jerry Ferro, happens to fall into the quest to become a member of the 2008 Olympic boxing team: at the age of 40.With a film like this you almost groan about how
predictable it's going to be- and it is. But there are certain surprises along the way that keep you from remember other boxing films you could be watching right now, like Mandingo. It's a film that's a little above average, but in a world with crap, that could be as good as five stars.
No quotes approved yet for The Hammer. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'The Hammer'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
