DVD - Balls of Fury (12)

12:41pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

WE seem to have had a rash of comedy films about random sports in recent years, but very few have proved to be that funny, and sadly this proves no exception.

Once a child prodigy at table tennis, Ray Datona (Dan Fogle) has hit hard times, forced into performing his ball skills in dreadful cabaret type venues to earn a few dollars.

Then he is approached by an FBI agent who tells Ray he is the only one who can help capture one of the bureau's most wanted. And how can Ray do this? By infiltrating an elite table tennis tournament, of course.

This film holds very few laughs, but what is a little laughable is Dan Fogle's innability to see that all he is being is a poor man's Jack Black. He mimics the tubby funny guy in every scene but at the end of the day, it's just a poor impression of a comic actor who has won the hearts of millions.

Balls of Fury is not a totally unbearable waste of an hour-and-a-half but the plot is ludicrous, the script is pretty weak and most of the jokes and slapstick just aren't that amusing.

HC