Cady's Take:

Will Ferrell plays Phil Weston, a suburban vitamin salesman who grew up in the shadow of his very competitive dad Buck (Robert Duvall). Events conspired to make Phil and Buck new dads at the same time, and 10 years later they find themselves coaching their sons' opposing soccer teams. Seeing the opportunity to finally beat his dad at something, Phil makes a bet with his father on the outcome of the big game. Now we must ask ourselves, Will Phil be able to help his disjointed group of plucky outcasts come together and play as a team? All I have to say is, be prepared for your typical clichéd kids underdog sports-movie.

I absolutely love Will Ferrell. But this film never comes close to the heart or humor that Mr. Ferrell found in ELF and OLD SCHOOL. The fact of the matter is, no matter how talented or popular the performer, they are still at the mercy of the source material and screen writing. With such an unoriginal script, it's obvious here that very little effort had been put into coming up with an innovative story or screenplay.

Face it; Ferrell is at his best when he is playing the part of the annoying, idiotic man-child. We don’t run out to watch Will Ferrell comedies hoping for a movie with a tale of morality. We want to see a hairy guy with a spare tire run drunk and naked through the streets singing old Styx songs. The last thing in the world we want to see is Frank the Tank apologize to his eight-year-old for being a sore winner.

If you are a Ferrell fan, please don’t pick this off the shelf – you will be extremely disappointed!

Unfortunately for us, "Kicking and Screaming" is not your standard Will Ferrell comedy. This lacks the warmth of "Elf" and the goofball humor of "Old School" and completely avoids being a heartwarming depiction of how families struggle to love one another in spite of each other. Robert Duvall plays Buck, a hyper-competitive sports fanatic who has spent his life explaining to his son Phil (Ferrell) that he can't ever measure up.

I am usually a sucker for a movie like this, that generally features a gang of precocious kids who learn to work together and to value their unique identities. "Kicking and Screaming" does deliver some amusing moments and the kids are certainly cute enough. Overall however this is not a movie that I could recommend, knowing that there are other, funnier Will Ferrell movies available for my consumption.

The writing is weak and the plot contrived which combines to make "Kicking and Screaming" one of the worst comedies I have encountered of late. Take a risk if you think you can prove me wrong, but I am not optimistic that you will enjoy this movie any more than I did.