Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story poster & wallpaper

A.D. Miles, Daniel Ross, Emilee Wallace

This centers on an overzealous high school janitor (Scott) who takes on the task of coaching a group of lovable misfits to the Nebraska state championship, overcoming their motley backgrounds in the p...( read more  read more... )rocess.

Flixster Users

25% liked it

1,256 ratings

R

Directed by: Danny Leiner

Release Date: January 1, 2008

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: January 13, 2009

Stats: 242 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

None yet... Got one?

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (242)

  • phubbs1
    May 28, 2009
    phubbs1
    Watched this for Scott really, he's quite a funny guy in the right film but this ain't the right film. There's no real plot here, apart from the obvious sports plot of coach losers to victory against the odds. Nothing really happens in the entire film!! nothing funny, nothing exc...( read more)iting, just some lame toilet humour and Scott's ass in full view. Total waste of time which isn't helped by the fact its based on tennis.
  • bort16
    December 17, 2008
    bort16
    You can now add tennis as a subject to the long list of sports comedies in the last few years. From Dodgeball to ping pong to basketball and even ice skating, sports have been the basis for wacky oddball comedies as of late, some better and funnier than others. This one doesn't s...( read more)tar Will Ferrel or Vince Vaughan. Instead, it's Sean William Scott. He's been been funny before, so O.K., not a bad start.
    The film's script apparently also won an award, I'm told. I'm not really sure how. There's nothing new or unexpected. It's the usual routine: a group of misfits gets an unruly new coach who turns them around and leads them to glory.
    Sean William Scott plays tennis hasbeen/never-was Gary. He went on the Mexican semi-pro tour after a few incidents in college, before settling down in Nebraska, because it's as good as anywhere really. Plus the real estate is cheap (referring to a banged up motor home). He became an engineer - the custodial branch. One day he gets the itch an runs out on the tennis court while the high school team is practicing. The coach (Randy Quaid) recruits him as his assistant. Gary, for some reason, is enamored with the coach, but then he dies. Because he's not a teacher, the school can't make him the head coach, at least officially. The new head coach (or co-assistant coach) has no experience with tennis, or any other sport he says. In order to honor the late coach, Gary is determined to coach the tennis team to a state championship.
    The cast includes lots of the usual oddballs: the gifted tennis player who reminds Gary of himself; wimpy kids afraid of getting hit with the ball; the sexy foreign language teacher as the subject of the protagonist's desires. There's also the late coach's teenage daughter, who interestingly, but oddly, has the hots for Gary before becoming the love interest of the teams star player. Gary even recruits the weird foreign kid - a pro ping pong player from the Philippines. He's never played tennis before, but his hand/eye coordination must be amazing, as Gary points out.
    Balls Out actually does manage to be occasionally endearing with its goofy characters. And Sean William Scott really can play a dirty greaser very well - thanks most probably to his ability to grow a mean fumanchu. He seems so greasy it's almost offputting at times, but funny at others. When the late coach's daughter plants one on him, for a minute it seems plausible that he'll actually go through with it. That scene does lead to the film's mandatory act of turmoil and challenge. Of course, it's overcome though.
    I had a fair share of laughs, but only a few roarers. The exchange student is comical in how quickly he himself becomes almost Gary's partner in crime after moving into the motor home with him. In the end, Balls Out just isn't consistently funny enough, and too many of the big jokes fall flat. The film will likely be released amid the January slew of films that studios would rather forget they made. I can't see the movie making a big box office splash, but it might do alright depending on what weekend it lands.
  • sportboy
    February 16, 2009
    sportboy
    The movie was quite funny I quite enjoyed it anyway.

    First of all I must say how well the acting went the acting was pretty good the story plot was pretty stupid but it was quite interesting and very funny the film was stupid but that doesn't make the film bad.
    I know this i...( read more)sn't going to be everyones taste watch people playing tennis and have the coach telling stupid jokes but I do know that alot will like it well I9 did and I would never give this film below average marks because the film wasn't that bad well I enjoyed it any how.

    Next I must comment on the directing if they didn't have Danny Leiner directing this film then I wouldn't know how this film would of turned out that Danny Leiner did an awsome job directing I was really impressed by him he just did an excellent job directing in this film I just don't know how to describe it he was just awsome Danny Leiner did an absolutly great job I must say.

    Well the story plot I really enjoyed and overall this comedy was really good and very funny aswell I must say the film was njust so funny I must say.
    I really enjoyed the film all the tennis and everything was just brilliant the film overall was just so interesting.
    I could of been more interesting so thats why this film wasn't a masterpiece but 3 and a half stars out of 5 isn't a bad rating also the ending on this film could of been better you couldn't really tell at the begining that that was the ending of the film I think they could of made the ending a bit better so people would know that it was the ending of the film also I was expecting this film to be at least two hours long but it wasn't so I would say that this film could of been a bit longer and really they didn't really need those subtitles down the bottom on this film because it was in English so I don't know why they needed subtitles down the bottom and also the music on this film could of been better and also the picture on this film could of been a bit better too the quality on this film was not brilliant but overall the story plot and the acting was excellent and overall I think good story plot and good acting and also good directing makes a film good.
    They don't really need anything else really done to the film because if the acting is good the directing is good and the story plot is interesting then the film would deserve over average already because I think those three things are the most important with films if they didn't have good acting or good directing or a interesting story plot then the film wouldn't be good but they did have those three things in this film so thats why I think this film was good.

    Daniel Ross acted well I must say I was really surprised with how well he acted he really did surprise me he must of acted better in this film than what he as ever done in is acting career well done to Daniel Ross he really does deserve a award for how well he did in this film he did excellent I must comment on how well he did because he acted absolutly awsome in this film he acted very well I must say absolutly brilliant performance from that actor I can't even put in in word he just acted very well.

    Also I was really surprised with the actor Randy Quaid he acted very well in this he must of acted better in this film than what he as ever done in is acting career also I was amazed by how well he acted he did absolutly awsome in this film well done to Randy Quaid aswell he also deserves something for how well he did in this film what an excellent performance he did I must say.

    Also Seann William Scott did well in this film there was just so many actors that did well in this film and some of these actors made the story very interesting this film would of never been this good if they didn't have these actors in this film.

    Overall this film was good but this film still can be improved because this film still wasn't a masterpiece but a reasonablly film.
  • shanehaley41
    January 26, 2009
    shanehaley41
    Sean William Scott acting a fool again. High school tennis teacher when the current coach (Randy Quaid) dies of a heart attack. Tennis, Rots, drinking, tennis, stripper, tennis, pooping, tennis, sexy fingers.
  • filmguy450
    November 22, 2009
    filmguy450
    First off, this wasn't what I expected, but just as dumb. The set-up was really stupid and unfunny, but after that, I'm not sure if some of my brain cells killed themselves because I was torturing them or if the film actually got funny, but either way, I started enjoying. I would...( read more) probably never watch this again though, but for one night with some friends, so you aren't actually paying attention, not too shabby.
  • jasontmartin3
    November 10, 2009
    jasontmartin3
    Funny! Anything with Scott turns out funny and good!
  • LYNNWOODS04
    November 9, 2009
    LYNNWOODS04
    Just didn't like this movie at all..
  • sixy
    September 13, 2009
    sixy
    It had some funny parts.
  • CHILIcheeseDONUTSwithTUNAonTOP
    September 5, 2009
    CHILIcheeseDONUTSwithTUNAonTOP
    If you think new National Lampoon humor is actually funny, you may enjoy this. But its just not funny at all. Lame. Undeveloped.
  • jschartrand
    July 27, 2009
    jschartrand
    If you forget about the gross things (witch are probably more than half the movie in an incomprehensible way) the movie is definetly not so bad.

View All Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Balls Out: The Ga... : Watch Free on TV

Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?