I have been looking forward to seeing this movie now for two weeks. I am sure you are thinking does she have a life? Maybe I don't, but maybe that is my problem not yours. So I grab my Ron Burgundy action figure and I head to the theatre. I get ready for the film to begin, Ron nestled in a seat next to me, although the seat keeps folding and launching him straight into the air. Fun game at first but the people behind me are not finding it amusing. I cozy in to my seat with popcorn in hand and a slushy to my side. If it isn't evident by the action figure, I love me some Will Ferrell. He just kills me I can look at him and laugh, not because he is funny but sometimes because he is funny looking. Hmmm think about that.

Kicking and Screaming is what Hollywood formula movies are made of. The real story revolves around Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) and the dysfunctional relationship between he and his father Buck Weston played by non other than Robert Duvall, I know I didn't know he was in the movie either. Maybe this is because the movie we see in the previews and the movie you see on the screen are a tiny bit different. Buck Weston is obviously the overbearing, competitive father, even when it comes to his son. That is right, he would bench his own son to win a game, or trade his own Grandson, which is where Will comes in. Sam, Phil's son is traded to the last place Tigers. You know these teams just think Bad News Bears go to the soccer field. When their coach has gone MIA, the parents turn to each other to coach the team, but who wants the high pressure, high stress job of coaching kids' soccer? Well Phil will do it, and he likes it because in his mind it isn't about winning it is about having fun. That is until his dad starts to call him out, this is when Phil does the only thing he can do, and he enlists the help of Buck's arch enemy and next door neighbor...none other than MIKE DITKA. Don't get me started on the SNL skits going on in my head, "So the 2005 Tigers soccer team and the Bears 1985 Super Bowl champs against Ditka on the soccer field, who would win? DITKA!"

Ditka not only helps Phil become a better coach and sort of a mini Mike clone, he also introduces him to the Columbian nectar of the Gods, Coffee. This is a side story that I really didn't get but had fun with anyway. Phil starts out slow, a flavored coffee here and there moving into the Lattes eventually graduating to shots of espresso. About this time he begins to change as a coach, when Ditka helps him find the next "Sweetness" for the Tigers in two neighborhood Italian boys who kick butt at soccer, Phil begins to see how it feels to win. You know what comes next, he turns into his father, his must win and competitive attitude is carried on and off the field. It is no longer about good times it is about ramming the ball down the other tiny little child's throat. Who said sportsmanship no longer exists...silly rumors my friend. Throughout the film you still see the constant struggle between son and father, whether we see it in flashbacks from childhood or the dreaded tether ball incident. Of course we all know how it goes, Phil finally sees the man he has become, non other than the man he despises that would be his father. The heartwarming realization comes at the end of the season during the championship game against the Gladiators, Bucks team. After alienating most of the kids and parents, it is when his own son no longer wants to play for him that this hits home. We have the warm fuzzy moment, and Phil remembers why he loved coaching in the first place.

Hey the kids are so cute, and fun. There is definitely the twinge of Bad News Bears in there, and some great scenes. There are the typical Will Ferrell sight gags that happen and I laughed out loud. In fact when I did laugh at this movie I laughed out loud. I would probably have enjoyed the film more had I known the real story. Look if you like a good old fashioned formula comedy, and who doesn't, check it out. The parents are great, and as I said before these kids just killed me. All that was missing was the little potty mouth Tanner kid and it would have been complete. As I said I love Will Ferrell and I really dig Judd Apatow, I just felt at times this film was all over the place and then at times it just really had legs and hit its mark. Check it out though; knowing what you know now, I bet you will be rolling in the aisles.