Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures

October 21, 2012


If you are looking for a feel good comedy among all these scary movies, look no further that good ole’ reliable Kevin James in Here Comes the Boom. Not my first choice in picking a movie this weekend, but, as I said, among all the scary films out, I figured that I’m always entertained by James’ films, so it couldn’t be that bad. And it really wasn’t!



Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a bored biology teacher at a Boston high school where the principal announces there has to be budget cuts, and the music program, along with its long-time teacher Marty (Henry Winkler), will be the first on the chopping block. Voss stands up for Marty and asks the principal how much money the school needs to stay out of the red. The number is $48,000. Voss vows to come up with a plan to help save the music program and Marty’s job.



During his night job of teaching citizenship classes, he meets Niko (Bas Rutten), a student who asks him for extra help to pass the citizenship test. While at Niko’s apartment, he watches an UFC fight and learns that even if the fighter loses, they get $10,000. So he comes up with a plan to have Niko, who used to be an MMA fighter, help train him and get him into fights to he can ‘lose’ to earn the money for the school.



He starts earning the money while getting the crap beat out of him. At the beginning, he doesn’t really bother ‘training’ and just learns defense to block his opponent until he loses. And every time he’s hurt he goes to the school nurse, Bella Flores (Salma Hayek), to get fixed up. One of the fights ends up on YouTube and the school principal tells him to stop, however, Voss is determined to make the money for the program. And soon, he starts winning fights, as Niko and his friend teach him to actually fight and not just defend himself. Joe Rogan offers Voss the opportunity to fight in an UFC fight, as one of their main fighters dropped out. Voss accepts the challenge and is looking forward to losing and getting the $10,000 that he needs to finish earning the money.



During the fight, everyone is there to support him, including the entire music program and Flores, in Las Vegas. Halfway through the fight, he decides he needs to win the fight and the $50,000 prize that comes with that win.



This was such a fun movie! And it was great for my boyfriend, who actually loves boxing and MMA fights. James doesn’t disappoint and does a great job in the physical comedy. Hayek does a good job of playing his love interest, who, of course, turns him down the entire movie, until she sees just how sweet he actually is. Winkler is fantastic as an older music teacher who loves music and his family so much he doesn’t even know how to react when Voss makes it his mission to save his job. And Rutten is amazing as Voss’ trainer, who also works in a gym and teachers a variety of classes.



While I wouldn’t rush out to the theater to see this film, it’s definitely worth it to see it at some point. Plus, it’s much better than the scary films that are out!