Balls of Fury

views updated

Balls of Fury ★★½ 2007 (PG-13)

Former child prodigy ping-pong star Randy Daytona (Fogler) finds himself fat and washed up at the ripe old age of 32. He's approached by the feds (Lopez as FBI agent) to take on a dangerous mission— infiltrate an underground ping-pong tournament run by shifty Chinese crime boss Feng (Walken), who also happens to be responsible for Randy's fathers' (Patrick) death. But Randy finds his mission has a dual purpose: avenge his father's murder, and attempt a high-stakes comeback. Of course every would-be hero needs a little help, and Randy's crackpot team includes blind restaurateur and ping-pong sage Master Wong (Hong) and his totally hot niece Maggie (Maggie Q). Some funny moments intertwine with a backdrop of Def Leppard in this ode to '80s nostalgia and martial arts, but it never fully takes off. 90m/C DVD, HD DVD . US Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, George Lopez, James Hong, Terry Crews, Robert Patrick, Diedrich Bader, Aisha Tyler, Thomas Lennon, Maggie Q; D: Robert Ben Garant; W: Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant; C: Thomas Ackerman; M: Randy Edelman