The Hammer (2007 film)
| The Hammer | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Charles Herman-Wurmfeld |
| Produced by | Eric Ganz |
| Written by |
Adam Carolla Kevin Hench |
| Starring | Adam Carolla Heather Juergensen |
| Music by |
Matt Mariano John Swihart |
| Cinematography | Marco Fargnoli |
| Edited by | Rich Fox |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $443,591 |
The Hammer is a 2007 comedy film starring Adam Carolla and Heather Juergensen. It was directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld. Carolla plays a once-promising boxer, now a middle-aged construction worker, who attempts to join the U.S. Olympic boxing team.
The film earned positive reviews during its limited theatrical release.
Jerry Ferro is turning 40 years old and is not what you would call a success. He works part-time in construction as a carpenter and part-time as a boxing instructor at a fitness center near Los Angeles. He drives a beat-up pickup truck and loses both the construction job and the woman in his life.
An amateur Golden Gloves boxer long ago, Jerry is asked one day if he would be willing to spar with an up-and-coming fighter named Malice Blake. He takes a beating, but surprisingly lands a one-punch knockout. Due to his strong left hand, Jerry's boxing nickname was "The Hammer," though a running joke depicts people assuming the nickname describes Jerry's work as a carpenter.
He is noticed by Eddie Bell (played by real-life boxing coach Tom Quinn), a coach who will train boxers trying to qualify for the next Olympic Games. Bell invites him to come to the Olympic tryouts. Jerry is clearly too old and out-of-shape, so he isn't interested. But his friend and co-worker Oswaldo Sanchez gives him encouragement, as does Lindsay Pratt, an attractive lawyer who works out at the gym and has caught Jerry's eye.
Jerry comes to the tryouts. He is mocked by Bell's top light-heavyweight contender, Robert Brown, which motivates Jerry to get into shape. He goes into serious training, loses weight and needles Brown, telling him there's "a new sheriff" in town in the light-heavyweight division.
What Jerry doesn't know is that Coach Bell privately sees Jerry as no more than a sparring partner and motivator for Brown, who is a legitimate Olympic candidate but who has a weakness against hard-hitting left-handers like Jerry. By falsely boosting Jerry's hopes, Bell can avoid paying him the usual $100 per day for a hired sparring partner.
Jerry drives team members to the first stage of the Olympic qualifying eliminations in Phoenix, where because of his age and lowly status he is immediately paired against the No. 1 contender. Coach Bell has gotten all he wanted out of Jerry and is so apathetic about the outcome that he deserts Jerry's corner in the middle of the bout. Motivated by the memory that he has never finished anything he ever started, Jerry scores a shocking knockout.
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