The Hammer Review

There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: Approaching forty, a man is unsatisfied with his life as a construction worker and part-time boxing instructor in Los Angeles, CA. After a successful bout with a young pro boxer, he decides to don the gloves one last time.


THE GOOD: Funny. I might be biased with The Hammer because I love the comedy style of Adam Carolla. I think his improvisation techniques are great and his analogies are smart. Carolla, who wrote and stars in the movie as Jerry Ferro, definitely adds a little something extra to his humor here. I would call it a touch of Woody Allen mixed with the one-liners of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. There are parts in this movie that had me dying of laughter, and therefore giving me a lot of strange looks on the public bus. Still, I think the general consensus among critics have been fairly positive for this movie, so I might not be alone in this boat after all.


Simple. The movie really doesn't complicate itself too much. There are moments when the story could have easily taken a more dramatic direction, but it continues on its straight path throughout the whole film. This is seen as a good thing from a movie that only opened on 20 screens in its first week. In that opening week, it earned $97,137 which is pretty amazing for a limited release movie. It just goes to show that a simple formula can still take a film a long way.

Attention to detail. While I have already mentioned that the movie is simple, it still takes a good look at the small things. I ended up caring for all of the characters on the screen. Ferro’s life is based on Adam Carolla’s real experiences as a construction worker in L.A. and his interest in the sport of boxing. You can tell that Carolla put a lot of hard work and thought into all of the scenes. Especially in the scene where he argues with Jane Lynch's character in a hardware store.


THE BAD: Target audience. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of movie this is. I guess sports comedy would be the right genre, but this is a movie that can appeal to so many people. There's a surprising amount of romance in this movie; I didn't even think about it before I saw it. The Hammer is rated R for brief language, but it doesn't nearly compare to the foul-mouthedness of a Judd Apatow or Kevin Smith flick. It could have passed as a PG-13 film if it had dropped a couple bad words. I think this film should have been targeted at a younger audience than the 30-somethings it was going for. It could have easily been more for older teens and younger 20-somethings. Definitely could have helped the movie's success in the box office, but instead it suffers from the same major flaw that this year's Speed Racer had. Nevertheless, it's still a good movie (Speed Racer, too).


THE END: The Hammer was a really pleasant surprise. You wouldn't expect this much entertainment to come out of a small movie like this. Adam Carolla put a lot of work into this movie by getting it a small theatrical release instead of going direct to DVD (like some other recent "films") and it deserves to be seen. I would risk to say that it is one of the best films of 2008 so far. Go rent it now.


DISCUSS: What did you think of The Hammer? Did you like Adam Carolla before watching this movie? How do you feel about him after seeing this movie? Would you have gone to the theatre to see this if it had been playing near you?