BASEketball * * * (out of four) Starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny McCarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine, Dian Bacher, Robert Stack and Kareen Abdul-Jabbar Directed by David Zucker Rated R for profanity and crude, sex related humor Theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 Released in 1998 Running 98 minutes
Exactly how far is too far? Lately, we've been seeing alot of movies that pose this question. Most recently, there was There's Something About Mary, the newest attack on the senses by the Farrely Brothers (Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin). I'm not expecting anyone else to agree with me, but I'm convinced I will not see a better film all year than Mary. Unlike their first outing, Dumb and Dumber (which supplied dick and fart jokes without even a hint of an actual story), their latest venture gives us plenty of dick and fart humor, only this time also give us the truest, sweetest romantic comedy since When Harry Met Sally... It was, quite simply, a masterpiece of comic timing and truths about the nature of love and it's effects. Now, in the wake of Mary's success, the same idiots who brought us The Naked Gun and it's sequels bring us BASEketball... not very good timing on the Zuckers' part if you ask me.
Unfortunately, this film falls into the same trap that the Farrely's first film did. It takes what could have been a wildly satiric and delightfully gross send-up of modern sports and turned it into...that's right; an attack on the senses without a good story or characters. But despite it's flaws, the movie is funny and I'd be lying if I said I didn't laugh. Hell, some parts had me in tears. I defy anyone to describe some of BASEketball's key sight gags and still keep a straight face. However, it's also one of the most uneven comedies I've seen in years.
The plot is pretty much self explanatory. Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of "South Park" - the best television show of last year) play Joe Cooper and Doug Remer, two hopelessly inept best buddies who inadvertently invent baseketball, an obviously idiotic fusing of baseball and basketball. The main catch is that while an opponent is preparing to take a shot, you can do anything in your power (short of physically attacking him) to stop him from making it.
Let me take a time out here and explain why these so-called psyche-outs are pivotal to the marginal success of BASEketball. These are the times that had me in tears, trying desperately to catch my breath. During the normal comedy routines in this film, most of the jokes are either not funny or just plain too cruel and sick to laugh at. Even I, the sick-humor hound, felt uncomfortable during the section of jokes focusing on dying children. Sometimes I like to tell myself that there isn't a line, that anything that'll get a chuckle is fair game. But watching these scenes, I came to realize that there are just some things not to be made fun of. Thankfully, the movie only takes about ten minutes in executing these jokes. Trust me - go get popcorn when the time rolls around.
Where was I? Oh yeah; the psyche-outs. These are actually what make the film somewhat recommendable. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things these guys do to make a distraction. Pornographic t-shirts, discussions of necrophilia, gay bashing, mutilation, eating fat from Marlon Brando's ass; you name it. They are, essentially, the highlights of the movie.
Like I said, the plot is pretty standard. When the owner of the Beers (Ernest Borgnine - yeah!!!) chokes on a hotdog and dies, he leaves the team to Cooper...if and only if he leads the team to victory in the next season. A-ha. This is the perfect opportunity for the late owner's Anna Nicole Smith-esque wife (Jenny McCarthy) to swipe the team from the rightful owners. Al she has to do is keep them from winning.
Again, as far as plot and characters go, BASEketball leaves much to be desired. But the numerous psyche-outs, most of them done with a stroke of brilliance, are alone enough for me to marginally recommend this irreverent comedy.
Copyright 1998 Jason Wallis
E-mail: rwallis@inreach.com Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475
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