Four years ago, Balls of Fury probably would've been  hilarious. But since that time, movies like Dodgeball, The Benchwarmers, and Blades of Glory have staked their claims to the "sports spoof" market, so don't be surprised if you find Balls of Fury coming up short on laughs. It reaches really hard for a joke -- and, unfortunately, that definitely shows.  

As a youngster, Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was a beloved icon in the unlikely sport of ping-pong. But in the years after a nasty loss at the Olympics, Randy has become a worldwide joke, resorting to using his skills as a third-rate casino act. Redemption comes a-callin', however, in the form of an FBI agent (George Lopez) who needs Randy's help. A ruthless and elusive gun runner named Feng (Christopher Walken) is holding a secret, underground table tennis tournament, and in order to put a lid on Feng's operations for good, the government needs Randy to infiltrate the competition. Although a little rusty at first, Randy fine-tunes his skills with the teachings of a blind ping-pong master (James Hong) and his fetching niece (Maggie Q), facing such opponents as conjoined twins and a psychotic German rival (Thomas Lennon) as he makes his way toward the final showdown against Feng.

Aside from the silly ping-pong element, was there anything else about the synopsis above to indicate  Balls  of Fury would be a goofball comedy? Not really, and that's one of the movie's biggest problems. This film takes a ready-made plot structure (in this case, borrowing liberally from Bruce Lee's legendary Enter the Dragon), throws in a few gags here and there, and leaves the story to work itself out. Not a very smart strategy, for the jokes are pretty weak to begin with.

A surprisingly small amount of the humor involves  people getting smacked around during the ping-pong battles, but I'll be darned if director and co-writer Robert Ben Garant (who, with Lennon, helped create and stars on Comedy Central's Reno 911!) doesn't put James Hong through the wringer, having the poor guy run into things or point in the wrong direction in every single scene he's in. Viewers also get such tired stand-by gags as the angry German guy, the loud fat guy, the burly black guy. Hey, Balls of Fury! The 1980s called, and they want their stereotypes back.

Laughs are the name of the game in any comedy, and when a movie like Balls of Fury fails in that respect, it fails miserably. Still, this comedy isn't without some hints of a silver lining, most of which come from the Baron of Bizarre himself, Christopher Walken. Just thinking of Walken being cast as an Asian crime boss with a ping-pong obsession is enough to make anyone giggle, and while the proverbial Rome is burning around him, Walken makes his fiddle recital irresistible to pass up (especially with a massive hairdo and a cape that makes him look like a demented wizard).

Still, Walken's presence isn't enough to overshadow the collective "meh"-ness of the remainder of the cast. Fogler has no real compelling qualities (he's overweight and screams a lot, and that's his hook), Lopez sleepwalks through his part, and Maggie Q lets her looks do the talking here.

There's a fine line separating comedies that take on a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware quality and those that end up every bit as cliched as the movies they're trying to parody. Despite its potential and the ingenious casting of Walken, Balls of Fury is a disappointing comedy with a serious lack of...well, you know...

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Rogue Pictures and rated "PG-13" for crude and sex-related humor, and for language.)

Adam will be discussing Balls of Fury with Betty Jo Tucker on BlogTalkRadio next Tuesday, September 4, at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Click here to listen to the show at its scheduled time -- or as an archived segment after the live broadcast.