CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 3/21/08

The Rocky Path to Success

By peter clines

The Hammer

Screenplay by Kevin Hench
Story by Adam Carolla

Jerry Ferro (Adam Carolla) is a 40 year-old, underachieving carpenter who teaches boxing classes to help remember his amateur years in the ring. When a pro coach sees Jerry knock out a heavyweight with one punch, however, the middle-aged slacker gets a shot at the Olympic boxing team. Which is when he begins to realize that this may be his last real chance to get his act together…on a number of fronts. Despite appearances, The Hammer isn't an attempt to jump on the Will Ferrell sports-movie-spoof bandwagon, but a thinly veiled biopic of writer-actor Carolla's own early years before becoming a professional comedian. As such, it doesn't go for the momentous, set-piece laughs. Instead, it gives them up in favor of a constant, much more realistic stream of amusing comments from Jerry, his best friend (Oswaldo Castillo), and the new woman in his life (Heather Juergensen) that he could lose before things even get started. There's a small handful of quotable lines that will stay with you after the movie, and the story even dodges the usual underdog-sports formula to stay well within the boundaries of believability while still being enjoyable and uplifting. The Hammer isn't the next Rocky by any means, but thankfully it isn't the next Rocky V, either.

The Hammer
International Film Circtuit
Rated R; 89 min.

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

The Hammer courtesy International Film Circuit

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