DVD review: The Hammer

***Note***

In this corner, no spoilers!

***EndNote***

Washout, Wannabe, Neverwas, and Ne’er-do-well, all these adjectives describe Jerry, a former golden glove winning boxer who did not have the heart for boxing and has ended up as a day-laborer on a construction site. Though he never turned pro, he teaches a recreational boxing class at a gym to a group of eclectic characters, a job that he has a tenuous hold of. Just as Jerry seems to be settling into a comfortable life of apathy, several turns of fate thrust him onto a new path that rekindles his competitive spirit. 

The film was written and stars Adam Corolla, you may know him from The Man Show or his radio talk show, with Oswaldo Castillo and Heather Juergensen backing him up. He did a good job balancing the weird circumstances in the movie with some excellent dialog and rapid fire jokes.

This being said, you have to appreciate Corolla’s self-deprecating sense of humor to allow the jokes to develop. There are quite a number of clichés that the movie employs, but it does so in a light and humorous way.  

The film is short, which leads to the denouement being very quick and kind of disappointing, though all the loose ends get tied up. The story is lean but it’s more than enough to keep the viewer engaged.  

Corolla is built for these kinds of buddy comedies, his cynical, sarcastic sense of humor makes him a perfect wall to bounce zany characters off of. Castillo is a perfect example of this - his English is pretty sketchy but his heart shines through.

This film was released on a shoe string budget, appearing on about 40 screens, and just recently came out on DVD, so pick it up if you like underdog stories with a some heart.

Source: The Hammer