BASEketball (1998)
Director: David Zucker Cast: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny McCarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine Screenplay: David Zucker, Robert LoCash, Lewis Friedman, Jeff Wright Producers: Robert LoCash, Gil Netter, David Zucker Runtime: 90 min US Distribution: Universal Rated R: vulgar humor, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
BASEketball is a fantastic assembly of failed jokes. I sat straight-faced through much of the film, enduring the agonizing experience of a make-fun-of-sports film that is rarely imaginative, funny, or smart. Oh, I know, a film like this isn't supposed to be "smart," right? Well, the funniest films have underlying intelligence -- a feeling you get knowing that the makers had some kind of thought or vision while creating their picture. BASEketball gave me no such feelings. I just sat and watched actors romp around a script that relies almost entirely on toilet humor.
It is a bad film. I would have preferred to dislike it more, but the presence of Trey Parker and Matt Stone keeps me from despising BASEketball. I've never seen these guys before (and I've never watched an episode of "South Park," which is their creation), but they have a strange kind of presence that had me entertained throughout BASEketball. I wasn't always laughing, but I was amused. On the basis of this, I begrudgingly award the film my lowest-possible rating in the "mediocre" category.
Parker and Stone play a couple of loser buddies, Coop and Doug. One day, in their driveway, they create a game, which turns out to be a strange and frightening amalgamation of baseball and basketball. It becomes a neighborhood hit, when finally a rich guy (Ernest Borgnine) comes to buy the game and make it a professional sport. Cut ahead five years, and our heroes are playing in the national BASEketball league (their team name is the Beers, which is supposed to be a joke).
One of the rules of the game is that players can't trade teams, and teams can't move to different cities. This is where the story comes in! See, when the rich guy dies, another rich guy (Robert Vaughn) wants to break the previously mentioned rules. It's up to our heroes to stop this other rich guy. In the meantime, the two of them are fighting over the nice-looking director (Yasmine Bleeth) of the Dreams Come True Foundation.
Unlike Mafia!, BASEketball takes itself seriously from time to time. A film this silly should never, ever take itself seriously. There should be absolutely zero "tender" moments between our hero and the love interest. There shouldn't even *be* a love interest: the mere presence of a love interest is an immediate removal of points on my scorecard, because it requires scenes in which the two characters kiss, or almost kiss. I despise scenes like these. They aren't funny, and every scene in a film like this should aspire to new comic heights.
It doesn't help that director David Zucker has no focus on his humor. Sometimes BASEketball spoofs films. Sometimes it spoofs the sports industry. Sometimes it's nothing more than a big fart joke, no more complex than Doctor Dolittle or There's Something About Mary. I like films that spoof specific things like films and sports, and even big fart jokes have their place in certain movies, but Zucker never follows through with any of his attacks, and the result is a slew of jokes that seem like they all belong in different films. Some of them are funny (the locker room scene is great), but too many fall flat. Not laughing during a comedy is like an uncomfortable silence on a first date.
But there's something interesting about Parker and Stone. They're both endearing -- it seems they knew that much of this material wasn't very funny; the interesting thing about BASEketball is that, despite it's failure as a comedy, it's never boring. In fact, is usually amusing, thanks to Parker and Stone. These guys have personality, and they certainly know how to kiss (the scene in which they make up is rather unexpected). This isn't a good film, but it's a good introduction to a couple of funny guys who may have found a place for themselves in the industry.
** out of **** (4/10, C-)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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