‘Kicking & Screaming’ is predictable, but hilarious

“Kicking & Screaming” doesn’t impart any life lessons that couldn’t be taught by a 15-minute cartoon playing on Nickelodeon. It’s just a typical sports film (soccer, this time) where the underdogs go the distance and everyone learns the importance of having fun over winning.

However, while a thousand movies and television shows before it have followed the same path, none of them can boast the unique talent of Will Ferrell. The actor has an odd gift for deliberate enunciation; he can say the most preposterous things with the utmost sincerity and get away with it: “I feel like a whirling dervish,” he says in a fit of anger, “and I don’t even know what a dervish is.”

His character, Phil, is enraged to learn that his son, Sam (Dylan McLaughlin), has been traded out of the Gladiators, the local soccer champions—the primary problem being the coach of the Gladiators is his own ultra-competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall).

Phil decides to coach Sam’s new team, the Tigers, enlisting the help of Buck’s hated neighbor (and former Chicago Bears coach), Mike Ditka. After Ditka introduces him to coffee, Phil becomes a maniac obsessed with winning, and perhaps more importantly, beating his dad.

Fueled by enough caffeine to kill a horse, Phil becomes only slightly more exaggerated than some real-life parents can become in coaching their kids, placing all the game’s emphasis on winning—not for his players’ sakes, but his own. Still, even dealing with a serious subject, Ferrell manages to keep it light with his bizarre antics. There are some honest laughs to be had when he tosses a lawn chair across the field like Bobby Knight or turns his pre-game chant into “Let’s break someone’s clavicle!”

And stuff like that is what keeps “Kicking & Screaming” an easy-going experience. It’s one of the few movies that can rest on a series of moments instead of a cohesive plot: the way one kid (Elliott Cho) can pop a paper cup over his knee, the way revenge is taken on a cappuccino machine, a “Frequent Drinkers” card at a coffee shop and so on.

The film may not be greater than the sum of its parts, but it’s just enough to become a worthy time killer.

Other little miracles must be praised, like the presence of Duvall. Of course, after starring alongside James Caan in 2003’s “Elf,” the more cynical among us may argue that Ferrell is just making a concerted effort to outbill everybody who ever starred in “The Godfather.” But, like Caan, Duvall makes his own presence known; unlike Caan, he actively competes with his co-star for the audience’s attention (appropriate for the character, I suppose). Shedding his penchant for powerhouse drama, Duvall reveals a side of himself that so few actors do anymore, where it’s just plain fun to be in his line of work.

Even the supporting cast is inspired. The film recognizes that Ferrell has more range than the average “Saturday Night Live” cast member and hasn’t been shackled to the show’s memory. While “Kicking & Screaming” features the occasional “SNL” alum (Laura Kightlinger, as one half of a lesbian couple), the real surprise is how it features former players from rival sketch comedy show, “MADtv.”

David Herman (as the referee) and Alex Borstein (as an obnoxious parent) are revered in voice-acting circles but largely under-appreciated in live action, and hopefully this film can do something about that.

You really can’t say too much else about “Kicking & Screaming.” Descriptions would inevitably reveal the punch lines of jokes and ruin the experience. It’s more than a tad predictable, but its energetic performances, coupled with the number of zingers it tosses out, far outweigh any other factors. When people talk about going to the movies just for fun, this is the kind of movie they’re talking about.