Product Details

• Actors: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, Kate Walsh, Josh Hutcherson
• Directors: Jesse Dylan
• Writers: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick
• Producers: Jimmy Miller, Judd Apatow
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• DVD Release Date: October 11, 2005
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000ADWDE8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,891 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Kicking & Screaming" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented: Encouraged by his neighbor, ex-Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (yes, playing himself), Phil stops his vitamin regimen and becomes wildly addicted to regular doses of caffeine, which turns him into a monster of a team leader. In addition to Ferrell, Duvall does a doozy of a comic riff on his Great Santini role, and even Ditka is unexpectedly funny. It's a formula film with just enough far-out notions to keep you chuckling. --Steve Wiecking

Product Description

Will Ferrell's trademark off-the-wall lunacy kicks in for a comedy sure to score big with the whole family! Phil Weston (Ferrell) is a mild-mannered suburban dad - who's suddenly transformed into a caffeine-fueled sports maniac when he becomes the coach of his son's unruly soccer team. But when the championship pits Phil's underdog team against the squad coached by his own domineering dad (Oscar winner Robert Duvall), it's game on for the most uproarious mismatch of the season! Suit up for fun, Ferrell-style, with the comedy Ebert & Roeper give "Two Thumbs Up!"

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny until the comedy is allowed to get out of hand December 21, 2005

By Daniel Jolley HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Will Ferrell is always funny, and the part of Phil Weston would seem to be tailor-made for his comedic antics. Phil's basically a little boy in a man's body, a little boy who wants to finally prove himself to his father and make up for never having met the old man's expectations. Robert Duvall lends the film an importance presence and additional laughs as the highly competitive Buck Weston, sporting goods king and highly successful coach of the Youth Soccer League Gladiators team. Phil (Ferrell) has never been able to get a leg up on his father - but certainly not from lack of effort. When he got married, his father got re-married; when he had a son, his father's wife gave birth to a son (slightly larger, of course) the same day. Young Sam and his equally young uncle Bucky play for the Gladiators, Buck's team, and they are all but unbeatable. Sam, though, is the proverbial benchwarmer, so Buck decides to trade his own grandson to the league's worst team. Yes, it's another team of misfits of all shapes and sizes that just need an incredible coach to take them to unsuspected glory. That coach is nowhere to be seen, and Phil ends up taking on the job.

That's when the competitive juices start flowing. The first big move Phil makes is to take on an assistant coach, his dad's neighbor and long-time enemy Mike Ditka. Iron Mike is surprisingly good in this film and more than holds his own beside both Ferrell and Duvall. He only takes the job to try and make Buck's life more difficult, but he soon goes about whipping the little misfits into shape. The team still stinks, but their fortunes begin to change when Ditka and Phil bring in two new players, a pair of Italian kids who were apparently born with soccer balls balanced on their feet. The team begins winning, and with every win Phil goes a little more cuckoo for cocoa puffs; his new coffee addiction doesn't really help, either. Sure, it's funny to watch Ferrell go about inspiring his team in pretty unorthodox ways, but it eventually gets to the point that the whole thing stops being funny. Even Ditka can't get behind telling the kids to cheat (without getting caught, of course) or break a few clavicles. Ferrell's character just goes so over-the-top that you just want to slap him; he lets the desire to beat his dad corrupt him completely, and the lack of moderation in the second half of the film is a real negative.

There are a lot of laughs to be had in Kicking and Screaming. It's exceedingly formulaic and predictable, but that doesn't matter all that much as long as the laughs keep coming. The script just takes Ferrell's character way too far over the line; watching a crazy guy coach soccer is funny, but watching a freak going bonkers on the sidelines is more annoying than anything else. The film could really have used more Ditka in the later stages. Don't go thinking this is some cameo by Iron Mike; he gets a lot of screen time, and he makes this movie better and funnier with all of his trademark habits.

In the end, Kicking and Screaming is a very funny movie, but it's not a great comedy. Despite excellent performances all around (especially Ditka's), the film is just too over-the-top for its own good. You can't say the movie tries to be anything more than it is, though - it's all about generating laughs and nothing else.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Another underdog sports movie, but this one is fun and entertaining November 16, 2006

By K. Hinton VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Kicking and Screaming is another underdog sports story with the requisite funny guy who has to help the losing team become winners. In this movie, the funny guy is played by Will Ferrell and the losing team hits close to home because his son is a member.

All of his life Phil Weston (Ferrell) lived in the shadow of his father's sports aspirations. He was clumsy, uncoordinated and never really succeeded at any of the sports he tried; Phil's father, Buck Weston "King of Sporting Goods," has always been disappointed in his son's athletic prowess and the two have a running air of competition throughout their lives. When Phil gets engaged, his father does too. When Phil's son is born, the same day he gets a little brother. All of this leads up to Buck coaching a little league soccer team that both boys participate in. However, Phil's son, true to form, is benched most of the time and eventually traded to a rival team where Phil becomes the coach. With the help of a caffeine addiction, soccer DVDs, and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, Phil does everything in his power to try to beat his father's team in the championships.

This movie is like so many other underdog sports stories like The Benchwarmers, Dodgeball, and Ladybugs, but fun nonetheless. The deleted scenes and outtakes are also not to be missed. Overall, if you're a fan of Will Ferrell and kiddie sports movies, you can't go wrong with Kicking and Screaming.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Nonstop laughs the whole family can enjoy... July 6, 2007

By Andrew Ellington VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I'm a huge fan of Will Ferrell and so I was excited when this movie was released. Although I never got a chance to see it in the theater I rushed to buy the DVD once it was released much to my wife's dismay, since she doesn't share the same love of Ferrell. The greatest thing about this film is that, while Ferrell may have to reign in some of the outlandish remarks that make him so funny in order to keep a lower rating and appeal to children and parents alike, he still maintains the same enthusiasm for his work and delivers a performance that is over the top, hilarious and spontaneous, and one that even my wife found enjoyable. That's probably one of the most commendable traits here. It serves as a really great family sports comedy, appealing to children but also giving the parents something to laugh at.

The film follows Phil Weston as he matches wits with his stubborn and overbearing father Buck. Buck, played by Robert Duvall, has always been disappointed with Phil who never shared his father's love of sports and everything manly. Instead Phil grew up to run a vitamin store, something Buck is somewhat ashamed of. Throughout Phil's life his father always had to be the best, even if that meant trampling his own son down in the process, and now, years later when Phil's son Sammy gets the same treated from his dear old Grandpa, Phil has to take maters into his own hands. He does that by offering to coach the loser team Buck traded Sammy to. Buck is unsupportive but in the end it's the competition between the two Weston men that finally bonds them like they've never been before.

Will Ferrell shines here, with all the quarks and loud mouthed antics that make his more adult oriented fare so entertaining. As Phil ditches his vitamins for coffee he becomes loud, obnoxious and downright out of control and it all adds up to a great deal of fun. Duvall is also effective as Buck. He's rude, mean and at times a downright tyrant. The first time I watched this movie his character actually made me angry. Mike Ditka is actually really funny as himself here. All the children are effective and funny in their own rights as well.

The story is a sweet one at that, showing the importance of letting your children have fun and be themselves, of not adding undue pressure to their success and never allowing your own insecurities and self doubts to ruin your relationship with your child. It shows the good and bad side of competition and the dangers of taking things too far. But, in the end `Kicking and Screaming' is just good old fun and is one that the whole family can enjoy together time and time again. I loved this movie (found it much more entertaining than the `Bad News Bears' remake released around the same time) and highly recommend it. It may not be the best sports comedy out there, but what it lacks in originality it makes up in laughs.