Mama's House

Went to see The Hammer last night mostly because I'm a fan of Adam Carolla. I'm not usually the movie reviewer type but this is a good movie that is easily better than most of the crap out there and it happens to be a low budget independent movie that is out in limited release. So the success of this film and thus the possibility of future movies made by Adam Carolla depends on word of mouth and a big showing of people at the 20 screens it is currently being played.

The film is part semi-autobiographical, comedy, romantic-comedy, and inspirational sports movie. The Hammer is based largely on the life experiences of Adam Carolla and here's the story:

Jerry Ferro's 40th birthday has brought his life into sharp relief and it's not a pretty picture. A once-promising amateur boxer -- who quit so he wouldn't risk his perfect record of underachievement -- Jerry has been knocking around from one construction job to another and spinning his wheels in an unsatisfying relationship, all the while with an eye toward eventually getting his shit together. His last connection to the fight game is the evening boxing class he teaches to middle-aged, middle class, middle management types at a gym in Pasadena, where he also works as a handyman. When venerable boxing coach Eddie Bell asks Jerry if he'd like to spar a couple of rounds with Malice Blake, an up-and-coming pro, Jerry reluctantly steps into the ring. Despite the ass-kicking Jerry otherwise receives, a one-punch knockdown of Blake convinces Jerry that it¹s time to make his return to competitive boxing. Thus ends a 20-year layoff and begins a hilarious fish-out-water quest for Olympic gold.

The movie features funny observational humor without any pretentiousness, the kind of humor you would find in an episode of Seinfeld; the romance is very sweet without overly doing it; kind of like the romance between Jim and Pam in The Office; and the boxing part of the story is inspirational that keeps itself from becoming too cliché with its humor. Overall, a really good movie that you can go watch with the guys or take a date to.

And that's my plug, and crappy movie review, for not just this film or any other Adam Carolla film projects that might result but for all those small non-Hollywood movies of quality. So seek it out soon before it goes away and also support quality films by spreading the word about this one.

The movie is being shown at:
Laemmle Sunset 5 Los Angeles
Laemmle Playhouse 7 Pasadena
AMC Burbank 8 Burbank
AMC Palm Promenade 24 San Diego
Regal Mira Mesa 17 San Diego