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# Will Ferrell hamstrung in ‘Kicking and Screaming’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/will-ferrell-hamstrung-in-kicking-and-screaming/
- Published: 2005-05-13T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:07:12.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Sports, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Warning: The Will Ferrell you’ll encounter in this lightweight family comedy bears little resemblance to his hard-partying “Old School” persona, Frank the Tank. Nor will you find much in common between the SNL alum’s endearingly childlike “Elf” and Phil Weston, the namby-pamby youth soccer coach he plays here. Sure, Ferrell exhibits a fair degree of goofball charm, especially when surrounded by all the diminutive moppets, but he seems a bit hamstrung in a role that offers too few opportunities to release dynamic bursts of his signature manic wit. That minor disappointment aside, “Kicking and Screaming” is good clean fun, and certainly a welcome departure from the CGI-fueled sensory onslaughts that pass for kids’ fare these days.

Director Jesse Dylan borrows several elements from “The Bad News Bears” (the official remake of that film is due later this summer), casting Ferrell as a sheepish pill salesman who reluctantly takes the helm of his son’s team of lovable losers, only to be transformed into a raving lunatic who forces his impressionable young charges to adopt a win-at-all-cost attitude. Robert Duvall also stars as Phil’s hyper-competitive old man, Buck, coach of the league’s best team and catalyst for his only son’s descent into madness. Former Chicago Bears tough guy Mike Ditka acquits himself well as Buck’s ornery neighbor, who teaches Phil a thing or two about aggressive leadership. (Rated PG for thematic elements, language and some crude humor. Running time: 95 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 13, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051305.pdf?ref=smdp.com)