BASEketball . Newcity Chicago . 08-03-98

BASEketball

DIRECTED BY: David Zucker

REVIEWED: 08-03-98

Where the Farrelly brothers have turned to the superstructure of plot with "There's Something About Mary," "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun" veteran David Zucker turns to barely contained anarchy in "BASEketball," a hit-and-miss high mark of summer vulgarity, the pinnacles of which include a billionaire sleaze played by Robert Vaughn getting hosed with milk emanating from the breasts of... Matt Stone? Zucker came up with an insanely dull and dumb driveway game among friends over a decade ago, and nourished the thought of doing a TV show or a game show based on this forgettable mix of basketball and baseball. The most inspired moments in the resulting film takes on what's become of sports in that decade-a mass-merchandised scam for millions to be made, not a form of sporting excellence. The ruptures in decorum come fast and loud, as Zucker and his team brought on Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the unregenerately rude and dopey minds behind "South Park." Stone, frizzy-haired and given to puppy-dog reaction shots, and Parker, bleach-blonde, wild-eyed and going to paunch, had acted before in their productions, "Cannibal! The Musical" and "Orgazmo" (both opening later this year), but Zucker took a chance on them as regular-guy stand-ins before the massive success of their Comedy Central brat-romp. My only complaint about movies like this is the fact that you want more jokes after it's all over-no matter how many ad-libs and reshoots you have, there's still something that leaves you feeling wrung-out after all the manic riffing. (At least you could put down a copy of MAD magazine when you're annoyed by it.) Amazing political points are scored in the face of contemporary sports, and I'm partial to a description of child workers in a Calcutta sweatshop being described as "too young even for prostitution." Yet most of the other jokes make you laugh or sort your laundry in your mind. Stone frantically licking a vibrator after taking a sip from a bidet's jet? A kid dying of liver failure slamming tequila shooters as part of his gift from a last-wish foundation? The ultimate Fox TV mid-season replacement-"Road Kill Caught on Tape!"(Don't worry, if you like those, there are dozens of others where they came from.) The look of "BASEketball" is typical for this kind of venture as well, with the kind of rotten lighting that makes someone as relatively young as Jenny McCarthy or Yasmine Bleeth look like they're well into their forties.

--Ray Pride

Full Length Reviews
BASEketball

Capsule Reviews
BASEketball
BASEketball
BASEketball

Film Vault Suggested Links
Gone Fishin'
Tommy Boy
For Richer or Poorer

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.