Kicking & Screaming (2005 film)
| Kicking & Screaming | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Jesse Dylan |
| Produced by | Jimmy Miller |
| Written by |
Dan Schneider Leo Benvenuti Steve Rudnick |
| Starring |
Will Ferrell Robert Duvall Mike Ditka Kate Walsh Josh Hutcherson |
| Music by |
Mark Isham Lyle Workman (Additional Music) |
| Cinematography | Lloyd Ahern II |
| Edited by | Stuart H. Pappé Peter Teschner |
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Production
company |
Mosaic Media Group
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million |
| Box office | $56.1 million |
Kicking & Screaming is a 2005 American sports comedy film directed by Jesse Dylan starring Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall. It focuses on the exploits of a boys' soccer team and their new coach.
Phil Weston (Will Ferrell), is an average person who had to endure his father Buck Weston's (Robert Duvall) over-competitiveness throughout his childhood, an upbringing which has left permanent mental scars. Now middle-aged and married, with a young son named Sam, Phil runs a small vitamin store, while Buck operates a local chain of sports stores.
Buck is coach of the Gladiators, the most successful little-league soccer team in the district. Sam is on Buck's soccer team, but to his dad's annoyance his grandfather keeps him on the bench, a humiliation he also visited upon his son decades prior. Buck eventually transfers Sam to the Tigers, the league's worst team.
At Sam's first game with his new team their coach is absent. Rather than forfeit, Phil decides to coach the team, a position he takes up permanently. However, despite Phil's best efforts the team does not seem to improve. In desperation Phil recruits Mike Ditka (played by himself), who is Buck's neighbor and hated enemy. Enticed by the opportunity to beat Buck, Ditka accepts the position. Despite grueling training, the team continues to lose.
Ditka introduces Phil to two exceptionally talented Italian boys working in a local butcher's shop. Phil succeeds in gaining their Uncle's permission for them to play for the Tigers. They have an immediate impact, scoring repeatedly. The resulting winning streak makes them serious contenders in the league. After finally winning a couple of games and Phil said that his team was going to go to the finals, Phil and Buck make a bet, if the Gladiators win then Phil would sell his store and work for Buck. If the Tigers win then Buck would hand over his most prized possession, 'The Pelé Ball', a soccer ball struck by the famous player which Phil caught as a child and Buck took from him.
Meanwhile, Ditka also introduces Phil to coffee, which rapidly changes him from a mild-mannered caring dad, to an obnoxious, over-competitive coach, not that different from his father, abusing kids and parents alike. The team's mantra becomes "Get the ball to the Italians", which, though effective, demoralizes his team. In the ultimate over-competitive act he benches his own son for the entire semi-final game.
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