Balls Out (2014 film)

Balls Out is a 2014 American sports comedy film directed by Andrew Disney, based on a script by Bradley Jackson.[1] The film stars Jake Lacy, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Nikki Reed, Kate McKinnon, DC Pierson, Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney, Nick Rutherford and Gabriel Luna, and focuses on a group of college seniors that decide to form an intramural football team before graduating.[2]

Balls Out
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Disney
Produced by
  • Russell Wayne Groves
  • Andrew Lee
  • David Ward
  • Red Sanders
  • Tucker Moore
  • Bradley Jackson
Written byBradley Jackson
Starring
Music byAlice Wood
CinematographyJeffrey Waldron
Edited byKody Gibson
Production
company
Ralph Smyth Entertainment
Red Productions
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Orion Pictures
Release date
  • April 19, 2014 (2014-04-19) (Tribeca)
  • June 19, 2015 (2015-06-19) (United States)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film, originally titled Intramural, stars cast members of comedy groups Saturday Night Live, Derrick Comedy, BriTANicK, and Good Neighbor. The film was picked up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Orion Pictures and was given a limited release on film and video on demand on June 19, 2015.[3]

Synopsis

Caleb (Jake Lacy) is a fifth-year senior preparing to graduate. Not quite ready to settle into the life, expectations, and realities outside of his college, he decides that he wants to reassemble The Panthers, an intramural football team that had to shut down after one of the team members ended up getting partially paralyzed for life. Doing so is going to be far more difficult than he expected.

Cast

Production

The film's script was written by Bradley Jackson during his sophomore year at the University of Texas, where he was inspired to create the script after listening to his friends brag about their intramural sports games.[4] Jackson expressed his desire to have Andrew Disney direct the film, as he greatly enjoyed his work.[5] Nikki Reed was later confirmed to be performing in the film, as were Beck Bennett and Michael Hogan.[6] Jackson and Disney raised funds for the film through a successful Kickstarter campaign,[7][8] and filming began on July 12, 2013 in Austin, Texas and continued for six weeks,[9] ending on August 22, 2013.[10]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2014.[11] The film went on to screen at the Montclair Film Festival on May 4, 2014.[12] and the Seattle International Film Festival on June 6, 2014.[13] The film was picked up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Orion Pictures and was retitled Balls Out. The film was released in a limited release and video on demand on June 19, 2015.[14][15]

Reception

The film was met with positive reviews from film critics. It currently holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews.[16] Andy Webster of The New York Times praised the film for its self-aware humor and talented cast for having comedic timing, singling out Kate McKinnon as a standout, concluding that "she displays talent too vast for the small screen. Now watch her career rocket."[17] Nick Prigge of Slant Magazine gave a mixed review of the film, saying that it was at odds with itself of being either a straight sports film or a satire of the genre.[18] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly said that while there's some funny commentary on the absurdity of sports films he found the film less a feature film and more a long television sketch.[19]

It won both the Cinema Dulce Best of Fest and Best Actor (Jake Lacy) awards at the Hill Country Film Festival[20] and the Best Guilty Pleasure Audience Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.[21] It also won the Best Sport Comedy award in The Vancouver Sun's 2015 Sports Market Movie Awards.[22]

See also

References
  1. Burton, Brad; Burton, Kim-Williams (August 8, 2013). "Intramural Shooting in Austin With a Cast of Comedy Heavy Hitters". Screen. The Indian Express. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  2. Ragland, J. Parker (August 9, 2013). "For all the athletes who never could..." Fort Worth Business Press. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  3. Sneider, Jeff (May 13, 2015). "'SNL'-Packed Football Comedy 'Balls Out' Lands Distribution From Orion Releasing". TheWrap. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  4. Guerrero, Dorothy (October 31, 2013). "Almost Famous". The Alcalde. Texas Exes. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  5. Mejia, Lisa (September 13, 2013). "Viewing the World Through Words". Austin Fusion Magazine. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  6. Sneider, Jeff (July 24, 2013). "'Twilight' Star Nikki Reed Leads Cast of Football Comedy 'Intramural'". TheWrap. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  7. Luippold, Ross (July 24, 2013). "Kate McKinnon, Jay Pharoah Shooting Indie 'Intramural' In Austin This Summer". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  8. Riese, Monica (August 9, 2013). "Kickstart Your Weekend With the 'Intramural' Team". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  9. Kay, Jeremy (July 24, 2013). "Intramural shoots kicks off". Screen Daily. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  10. Champion, Matthew (September 2, 2013). "That's a Wrap: Austin Sports Film Intramural Completes Production". The Austinot. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  11. Kemmerle, Karen (April 20, 2014). "Andrew Disney on 'Intramural,' Test Audiences And Why Film School Matters". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  12. "MFF 2014: COMEDY". Montclair Film Festival. April 3, 2014. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  13. "Intramural". Seattle International Film Festival. Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  14. "Balls Out the Movie". Orion Pictures. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  15. Sneider, Jeff (May 13, 2015). "'SNL'-Packed Football Comedy 'Balls Out' Lands Distribution From Orion Releasing". TheWrap. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  16. "Balls Out (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  17. Webster, Andy (June 18, 2015). "Review: 'Balls Out,' a Sports-Movie Satire Packed With 'S.N.L.' Talent". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  18. Prigge, Nick (June 15, 2015). "Balls Out". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  19. Anderson, Kyle (June 18, 2015). "'Balls Out': EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  20. "HCFF AWARDS". Hill Country Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  21. Seattle Times staff (June 9, 2014). "SIFF 2014 films returning to Seattle". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  22. "The Sport Market Movie Awards 2015". The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. February 20, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
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