Blackball

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Blackball

R

2003

1h 34m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

38%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

An American sports agent tries to help an Englishman (Paul Kaye) after he is banned from lawn bowling.

Derek Elley

Variety

A full-on local crowd-pleaser, "Blackball" takes the genteel sport of, uh, lawn bowling and comes up with a shameless slice of Brit flag-waving comedy.

Mar 27, 2009

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

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Peter Watts

Time Out

It's messy, but the real problem is: it's not funny.

Jun 24, 2006

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David Aldridge

Radio Times

The laughs here are way off-target. This Brit-flop won't be bowling anyone over.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 22, 2015

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Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

Tim Firth's script is functional on a sitcom level at best, and Mel Smith's direction differs from the usual hack job only in being a bit worse (especially in the frequent montages set to rock songs).

Oct 18, 2008

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Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

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Test T

I watched this on DVD recently. It's a British sports comedy set in Torquay about lawn bowling, in which a highly skilled showoff from the wrong side of town rises to infamy to take on the Australian world champions. This OTT plot sounds like a parody doomed to failure, but for the fact that the comedic legend Mel Smith is in the director's seat. I found the film to be well made and engaging for the most part, as it poked fun at the traditional game at every opportunity. The thing which I though let the film down was the frequent use crude language, which seemed unnecessary given that the film would have been just as funny without it. Overall I did enjoy watching it, although it started to wear thin towards the end.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/10/24

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Bob R

Easy watch. Nothing serious easy watch comedy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

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Audience Member

It made me smile and laugh a lot. I do think a lot of its charm comes with playing and understanding Crown Green and Lawn Bowls. You'd appreciate some of its humour if ignorant to the game, I'm sure, but that would likely come purely from stereotypes, and miss the nuances that are added. I hadn't expected the calibre of the cast, before watching! Some great names, having some real fun. It'll be one I quote, and shall watch again!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

I watched this film many of times good film good acting I would highly recommend it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

It's sad that some people don't understand British humour

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

A fun easy to watch movie .Don't be expecting a masterpiece but it is good feel movie.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Mel Smith

Director

Paul Kaye

Cliff Starkey

James Cromwell

Ray Speight

Alice Evans

Kerry Speight

Bernard Cribbins

Mutley

Vince Vaughn

Rick Schwartz

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Synopsis

An American sports agent tries to help an Englishman (Paul Kaye) after he is banned from lawn bowling.

Director: Mel Smith
Producer: James Gay-Rees
Screenwriter: Tim Firth
Production Co: Icon Entertainment International, Isle of Man Film
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 17, 2017
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital