The original hitman of paintball returns to reclaim his rightful crown in the one comedy that proves you're never too old for a killer comeback. Everyone knows that the name Bobby Dukes (Rob Corddry) is synonymous with the game of paintball, and when the teenaged Dukes led his team, the River Rats, to three consecutive wins at the East Coast's legendary Hudson Valley Paintball Classic, it appeared as if the game was finally about to break big due in no small part to Dukes' dead-eye aim and
easygoing charisma. It was that fateful attempt at a fourth win that ultimately derailed Dukes' career as a triggerman, though, and after being shot during one of his signature moves, the three-time champion committed one of the most heinous acts in all of paintball -- wiping. Spotted by a keen-eyed referee and subsequently ejected for his attempts to cover up the telltale stain, Dukes' was devastated to become the laughing stock of the paintball community. Now, the time has come to let go of the past and lay claim to the future, and though no self-respecting paintball player would be caught stained on the team of a man who once wiped, Dukes is soon joined by the very same referee who exposed his deceitful transgression in assembling a ragtag team of underdogs and once again laying claim to the coveted Hudson Valley Paintball Classic title. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
... succeeds as a modest tribute to the kind of aging boys club that idles for hours in somebody's parents' rumpus room, its members tossing around big-man talk but trapped in emotional adolescence.
Corddry leads a game cast, but the film is rough around the edges and lacks the sophistication of, say, Christopher Guest's Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.
This spoof of sports biopics is essentially an extended improvisational skit, with a troupe of comics riffing on a central joke (the elevation of paintball to a noble calling).
There isn't the same labored yet quotable wit ... that you'll find in some of the scripted satires, but part of the fun of improvisation is its spontaneous lack of polish.
Needs a better smattering of colourful, interesting characters than it delivers [with its] scattershot approach . . . lacks any bruising zingers or zealously zany characters.
Jiggly camerawork meant to mimic that of the unseen documentarians, and mismatched lighting, perfunctory paintball action, and overlong dialogue riffs that make the film look more like a really lengthy skit than a fully finished movie.
Though the performances are surprisingly good -- the characters are drawn with a broad brush, but the actors, almost all professional comics, hit all the right notes -- the material just isn't funny enough to justify the film's length.
This movie really falls into a category that it might not have had to be in, but I really didn't see how it could have gotten out of it. This is a comedy that is largely not funny. And sort of not exciting either until the tournament kicks in, and then it moves almost entirely away from comedy. I think this movie tried
to follow the Christopher Guest style, but couldn't pull it off. And it brings in a lot more characters than it can juggle. It has a few good scenes and lines, but not enough. You can pass on this one. But just fine to watch to pass time if you have interest in...ahhhh, just pass.
September 25, 2011
Lee B
I didn't actually finish this movie, but that doesn't speak at all to the quality. It's in fact a really hilarious entry into the Will Ferrell-plays-an-over-the-top-character-that-should've-been-an-SNL sketch-but-is-instead-an-awful-90-minute-movie genre, but without Will Ferrell and in a mockumentary style that suits
the humor in a much better way than the bombastic style of wretched fare like Blades of Glory. I should really finish this.
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