"KICKING AND SCREAMING"
(2005) (Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	*Moderate	Heavy	*Minor	Minor
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	None	Minor	None	Minor
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Mild	Moderate	Moderate	*Moderate

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QUICK TAKE:

Comedy: A mild-mannered family man becomes consumed with besting his ultra-competitive father when he agrees to coach a soccer team that will play his dad's squad.

PLOT:

Phil Weston (WILL FERRELL) is a mild-mannered family man who runs a vitamin store but has never escaped the shadow cast by his competitive father Buck (ROBERT DUVALL) who owns a sporting goods store. It's so bad that when Phil brings home his girlfriend Barbara (KATE WALSH), Buck states that he's getting married to Janice (MUSETTA VANDER), and a year later both men have new sons.

Time passes and Buck is the demanding coach of the Gladiators soccer team that includes his young grandson. But Buck, always wanting to win, never plays Sam (DYLAN McLAUGHLIN) and instead favors his own son, Bucky (JOSH HUTCHERSON). When he trades Sam to the lowly and winless Tigers, Phil finds himself reliving his childhood where his father treated him the same way. As a result, and due to the current coach leaving town, Phil reluctantly agrees to coach the team that includes a rag-tag group of players such as Hunter (JEREMY BERGMAN), Ambrose (ERIK WALKER), Connor (DALLAS McKINNEY) and Byong Sun (ELIOT CHO), the latter of whom has two moms.

Since he has no idea what he's doing, Phil persuades his dad's next-door neighbor and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (MIKE DITKA) -- who despises Buck -- to become his assistant. Ditka realizes there's little talent on the team and thus persuades the local butcher to allow his two Italian nephews and soccer prodigies, Massimo (ALESSANDRO RUGGIERO) and Gian Piero (FRANCESCO LIOTTI) to join the team.

With their skills, the Tigers soon go on a winning streak, although they're on their own since Phil -- fueled by too much coffee and a need to best his old man -- has become just as competitive as Buck. With the playoffs approaching, the son and his father gear up for their big match and an important bet riding on it.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they're fans of Will Ferrell or are into soccer, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG

For thematic elements, language and some crude humor.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

WILL FERRELL plays a mild-mannered vitamin shop owner who still lives in the shadow of his competitive father but accepts the job of coaching soccer against him. Fueled by too much coffee and the desire to best his dad, he becomes a coaching tyrant, doing anything to win including hurting his son's feelings by not playing him.

ROBERT DUVALL plays his ultra-competitive father who will do anything to beat his son at most anything. In his desire to win, he even trades his grandson to a losing team.

MIKE DITKA plays himself, the former Chicago Bears coach who joins Phil's staff just to get back at Buck, his neighbor who he doesn't like.

KATE WALSH plays Phil's wife who becomes concerned about his obsession with winning and what it's doing to their son who isn't allowed to play.

DYLAN McLAUGHLIN plays Phil's son who's disappointed first when his grandfather trades him to a losing team and then when Phil won't play him in the games.

JOSH HUTCHERSON plays Buck's son who gets preferential treatment on his dad's soccer team.

ELIOT CHO plays a small kid whose parents are two women.

ALESSANDRO RUGGIERO and FRANCESCO LIOTTI play two Italian boys who join the team and help them win. They also work in their uncle's butcher shop.

JEREMY BERGMAN plays the kid who eats live earthworms.

DALLAS McKINNEY plays the nearsighted goalie.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated comedy. Profanity consists of a handful of minor expletives, but a fair amount of imitative phrases are present, as is all sorts of other behavior that might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Some brief cleavage is present, while a boy on the team is noted as having two moms (lesbians, although no related sexual material is present). Other thematic material involves how fathers treat their sons, and other related adult treatment of kids (emotionally and physically abusing them -- purportedly in the name of humor on the film's part).

That includes one man pushing a boy to the ground by his face, while another kicks a boy into a pool. More traditional slapstick style and physical comedy material is present (people being hit by balls on various parts of their bodies -- including various crotch shots, a person being slapped to make them regain their composure, etc.) while a woman grabs a man by the throat for being disrespectful to her. Other bad attitudes are present (although all are played for laughs), as is some crude humor (urination, eating live worms and a scene featuring kids and the aprons they're wearing being covered in butcher shop blood -- also played for laughs). A man smokes cigars in several scenes, a few people drink (and there's a possible offhand drug reference), and a scene played for laughs (featuring dogs raiding a campout) might be unsettling for kids afraid of canines.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some bouncy point of view camera work during some of the soccer games.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

A woman, mocking Phil's economy car, says something like "Enjoy the hemp" to him (possibly a drug reference).

Some people have drinks in a restaurant or bar.

Ditka has Phil trying different sorts of coffee. He spits out one and Ditka laughs that it's vodka.

Phil holds a beer, while Buck has one sitting on a grill in front of him.

Some miscellaneous people in the background of a shot have what looks like beer.

BLOOD/GORE

We see one of the young kids with his back to the camera, urinating in the bushes (we hear the sound).

Hunter (a young player) dangles an earthworm near his mouth and then eats it (saying he'll do so for $5). He later does this again to distract an opposing player (we see the worm going into his mouth in both instances).

Ditka tries to hit Buck, but punches Phil in the face by accident instead. Phil later has a black eye from that.

Phil and Buck play a game of tetherball with the ball first hitting Phil hard in the crotch and then to his back and face. He then removes his shirt and we see big red marks on his skin from such contact.

Needing Massimo and Gian Piero to play on his team (rather than work on an order for their uncle in the butcher shop), Phil takes a chainsaw to a side of beef. We don't see the impact, but later see him and the kids covered in related blood (on their faces, hands and aprons -- and there are several views of that, played for laughs as an opposing team runs away upon seeing them arrive looking like that).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Buck is an ultra competitive person who's always striving to outdo his son. Accordingly, he trades Phil's son (Buck's grandson) from the team he coaches.

A woman cuts off Phil and pulls into his parking space, taking up two and preventing him from parking.

Ditka and Buck don't get along, with the former purposefully blowing leaves into Buck's yard.

Ditka smokes cigars in several scenes, even disobeying his wife's order of not smoking in the house.

Some viewers might not like when Phil, who's mad at his dad, asks Barbara, "Are you a robot, woman?"

Ditka gets the kids to take out his trash and wash his vehicle during training.

Ditka calls Byong Sun "Bing-Bong."

Buck continues to have a bad (winning) attitude toward his son.

Phil yells at birthday party attendees (outdoors at a park) to "shut up" when he's on the phone.

Phil acts impatiently and rudely toward a woman in a coffee shop. In turn, she eventually grabs him by the throat and others then physically escort him out of the shop.

Phil tells Ambrose that if he breaks an opponent's collarbone, that's a good thing. He then tells his team, "Let's break someone's clavicle."

Phil becomes obsessed about winning to the point of becoming an unbearable tyrant (he later apologizes and changes his ways).

While upset during a game, Phil first throws a chair onto the field and then pushes a kid (an opposing player) by the head to the ground (played for laughs, but rather violent in nature).

Phil grabs a large cone and yells "Losers" to a losing team's players.

Phil tells his young players that if they lose, they'll face cataclysmic events for the rest of their lives.

To goad an opposing young player into attacking him (which then occurs), Phil repeatedly calls the boy "Fart face Jones" and "Farty pants."

Buck kicks one of his son's players into the pool.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Phil gets his young players to join him in baying at the moon at night. A bunch of neighborhood dogs then storm their impromptu campground, causing comedic chaos (but kids scared of dogs might be scared by their sudden arrival).

GUNS/WEAPONS

A starter's pistol is used to start a race.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Look at the size of this bad boy," "He's/We've/You've got balls" (a sports store slogan, but also a double entendre for "guts"), "You're nuts," "I'm spitting angry," "Are you a robot, woman?" "Little bugger," "Muchacho," "Pimp hands," "You dig cracker," "For Pete's sake," "Zip it, kid," "I eat quitters for breakfast and spit out their bones," "Let's go out and kick some butt," "Kick butt out there," "Jeez," "Shut up you little rats," "Read it and weep," "Bing-bong," "Ditka sucks," "It's gonna get a hell of a lot worse," "Stiffs," "Shut up," "Meat first," "Wow, crazy," "What's that haunting aroma?" "Mother of pearl" (said in reaction to pain), "Mama mia," "You're a real duffer," "A little klutzy," "No way, Jose," "How many sarcastic pills did you take this morning?" "Fire is the stuff of warriors," "You're getting a little creepy," "Zip it there, sporty spice," "Why don't you go to hell?" "I'd whip your butt," "Juice box" (a nickname for Ditka), "Off the field, Tarzan," "Losers," "You're like some kind of animal," "Fart face Jones," "Farty pants," "Like a jackal from Hell," "Screw up," "I screwed up," "Tattoos are cool," "Clowns," "Way to go, Bing-Bong," "Hell of a game," "I'm not blowing smoke up my butt," "You were a raving maniac" and "A living hell."

Some kids may be enticed to imitate all of the crazy and exaggerated things that Will Ferrell's character does and says in the film, including pushing a kid to the ground by his head, drinking lots of coffee and more.

Phil throws darts at a dartboard, but instead hits a small neon sign and a large aquarium (with different tosses), causing both to break.

Barbara and then Ditka separately slap Phil on different occasions to make him regain his composure.

A kid walks along with a soccer ball under his shirt, saying he's having a baby and that it's going to come out.

Byong Sun repeatedly taps the open end of a cup onto his knee, making a loud sound.

Hunter (a young player) dangles an earthworm near his mouth and then eats it (saying he'll do so for $5). He later does this again to distract an opposing player (we see the worm going into his mouth in both instances).

A kid repeats lines from a rap song he heard (we don't) including something about his "pimp hands" and "You dig cracker."

A kid holds another around the head, with the latter's shirt pulled over his head while the former rubs it.

Byong Sun runs around with a man's toupee on his head.

After winning, the boys throw things all about Phil's house, followed by Phil repeatedly kicking a soccer ball inside the living room, bashing the fireplace screen (until his wife tells him to stop). The kids then playfully grab and pile on top of him.

Some adults do some chest bumping (where the first contact is between clothed chests), with a strong lesbian knocking Phil backwards by doing so.

Phil pours a large container of Gatorade over his own head.

Buck prances around and makes chicken noises when mocking Phil and saying he's chicken to bet against him.

Phil gets his young players to join him in baying at the moon at night.

Phil tells Ambrose that if he breaks an opponent's collarbone, that's a good thing. He then tells his team, "Let's break someone's clavicle."

Phil grabs a large cone and yells "Losers" to a losing team's players.

To goad an opposing young player into attacking him (which then occurs), Phil repeatedly calls the boy "Fart face Jones" and "Farty pants."

Mockingly repeating what his dad and the ref told him, Phil makes fart-like sounds with his mouth in place of their words.

A miscellaneous woman wears a midriff-revealing top.

Buck kicks one of his son's players into the pool.

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

There's a tiny bit of comedy-based suspense music when Phil jokes about them eating Byong Sun.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 5 hells, 2 uses each of "God" and "My God" and 1 use each of "Oh God" and "Oh my God."

SEX/NUDITY

We see Janice sitting on Buck's lap and he tells Phil that he's lonely and a man (and thus is getting married to her).

Janice shows some cleavage.

Phil jokingly asks his young son if he's doing some Internet dating or looking for a mail order bride.

Phil learns that Byong Sun has two mothers (we see them, with one being portrayed as strong physically -- as in a stereotype), and is then flustered about what to say, first stating that they're better and then changing that to "different." No sexually related lesbian behavior is seen.

A woman shows some cleavage.

Barbara starts kissing Phil on their bed, but he starts crying and nothing sexual occurs.

Janice shows some cleavage.

A miscellaneous woman wears a midriff-revealing top, while Barbara wears a slightly short shirt that rides up in the back several times (thus we see her bare lower back).

SMOKING

Ditka smokes cigars in several scenes, even disobeying his wife's order of not smoking in the house.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Phil reminds his dad that his mom (Buck's wife) didn't die (as Buck said), but just divorced him.

Phil lives under the constant shadow of his competitive father and the two don't get along well (played for laughs).

Barbara gets so mad at how Phil is acting that she walks out.

Sam is upset that his dad doesn't play him in any of the games (in his obsession to win).

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Ultra-competitive people.

Father's and sons.

Phil learns that Byong Sun has two mothers (we see them, with one being portrayed as strong physically -- as in a stereotype), and is then flustered about what to say, first stating that they're better and then changing that to "different."

Soccer.

The concept of what's important not being winning or losing, but how one plays the game.

A heckler yells out that he heard the former male coach is now a woman.

VIOLENCE

All of the following is played for intended laughs (much of it in a slapstick fashion).

We see a college-aged Phil participating in the hammer throw in a track and field event, but he lets the ball fly and it crashes down onto a nearby table, breaking it. Later, he hurts his knee trying to cross a hurdle.

Ditka throws a ball back into Buck's yard that hits Phil on the head.

Phil throws darts at a dartboard, but instead hits a small neon sign and a large aquarium (with different tosses), causing both to break.

Phil pounds his steering wheel, causing the air bag to deploy and hit him in the face.

When Phil has something of a pity-based nervous breakdown, Barbara slaps him on the face to make him regain his composure.

One of the kids, seated to another, puts his finger into the other's ear, causing the other kid to shove him away.

Some of the young players fall down hard during a game (but are okay).

Seeing a father and son tap each other's cleats together, Phil tries doing that to Sam (who's unaware of his intentions) and he ends up kicking his boy in the leg.

We see soccer balls hitting boys in the crotch and on the head, while there's other standard physical contact during a game.

Ditka tries to hit Buck, but punches Phil in the face by accident instead. Phil later has a black eye from that.

When Phil starts crying in front of Ditka, the coach slaps Phil on the face to make him stop.

After winning, the boys throw things all about Phil's house, followed by Phil repeatedly kicking a soccer ball inside the living room, bashing the fireplace screen (until his wife tells him to stop). The kids then playfully grab and pile on top of him.

Phil reacts adversely to grabbing a cup of hot coffee and then later to drinking some.

Phil and Buck play a game of tetherball with the ball first hitting Phil hard in the crotch and then to his back and face. He then removes his shirt and we see big red marks on his skin from such contact.

Phil acts impatiently and rudely toward a woman in a coffee shop. In turn, she eventually grabs him by the throat and others then physically escort him out of the shop.

A kid is tripped hard during a game and tumbles to the ground.

A kid is hit in the crotch with a soccer ball.

While upset during a game, Phil first throws a chair onto the field and then pushes a kid (an opposing player) by the head to the ground (played for laughs, but rather violent in nature).

To goad an opposing young player into attacking him (which then occurs), Phil repeatedly calls the boy "Fart face Jones" and "Farty pants."

Phil purposefully knocks over a table with his large coffee machine on it (both crash to the ground).

Connor accidentally slams hard into one of the goal's metal posts.

Buck kicks one of his son's players into the pool.

Reviewed May 9, 2005 / Posted May 13, 2005

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