Here Comes the Boom – Film Review
Director: Frank Coraci
Starring: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, and Henry Winkler
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Here Comes the Boom really shouldn’t be a good film. It has a plot that has been regurgitated hundreds of times before, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table and it features Kevin James who, despite being a very likable guy, has never really been all that funny. It has all the ingredients for a painfully dull movie that will fade into obscurity moments after its release and yet…it actually isn’t that bad.
Let’s ignore the fact that this is a Happy Madison film, a production team whose best film to date is 50 First Dates, released in 2004 (and even that felt like a fluke). Most recently, they have been responsible for atrocities such as Grown ups, Zookeeper and this years utterly lamentable Jack and Jill. They don’t have a good track record, and this film retains the same tone of those previous letdowns. Yet despite this, Here Comes the Boom is still engaging. It’s characters don’t come across as utterly one-dimensional (although there are a few of those). And while this typical underdog story has been told and retold many times before, James actually slides into the role well enough that you can forgive the predictable plot.
Scott Voss (James) is a teacher at an under financed public high school. When the board of education decides to cut extracurricular activities to save money, the job of the eccentric music teacher Marty Streb (Winkler) becomes threatened. Vowing to save his colleague’s job, Voss sets out to raise the money required to keep the school out of debt: by becoming an MMA fighter.
It’s a classic underdog story that undergoes all the predictable twists and turns. James gets annihilated in the cage a couple of times, slowly gets better, then eventually gets set up to fight a colossal opponent in an all or nothing bid to save everything he cares about. It starts off a little rocky. James can’t seem to decide if Scott is a lethargic douche-bag or a good-natured punching bag. An embarrassing redemption scene in the second act, in which he becomes wildly eccentric in the classroom, suggests the former, but he is simply too likable a character to be regarded in that way. It becomes a far more enjoyable experience once this scene is over and we feel that we can properly root for him.
Because when it comes to underdogs, it’s hard to find a better candidate than Scott Voss. He is pitted against some savage opponents. And while it is revealed that he did wrestling in college, it’s hard to imagine him in any kind of scuffle. This expectation is emphasized when, for the first few fights, he does little more than fall down or throw up. The odds are stacked against him, but we genuinely want him to win. It will come as a surprise when, as soon as Scott becomes capable in the cage, we feel a sense of relief.
And therein lies the biggest surprise that James has up his sleeve: he is a properly decent physical actor. He has lost a considerable amount of weight for this role and it really shows towards the big finale. As he walks towards the ring for his big fight, we can just about believe that he can hold his own in the ring. Which lends the big fight considerable emotional weight, and is easily the highlight of the entire film.
The rest of the film is kept moving along by a slew of consistently decent gags and a not unimpressive amount of subplots. Scott’s personal trainer, Niko (Bas Rutten), is a standout for being both intriguing (he trains Scott in return for Scott preparing him for his citizenship exam) as well as comical (“My favourite song? Faithfully by Journey. *singing* Highway Run…into the midnight sun!”). Marty is also a treat to watch, being old fashioned, forgetful and a little delusional. And Salma Hayek as Bella, the obligatory love interest, may be one-dimensional, but at least gets one scene where she gets to beat up Kevin James.
It’s not revolutionary, it’s hardly original, and there are few moments of genuine hilarity. Despite this however, the film remains chuckle-worthy and engaging enough that you will barely notice the time passing. Destined to be a midweek movie, at least it can claim to be a decent one.
Score: 3/5
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