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Blackball

Play trailer Poster for Blackball R 2003 1h 34m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.

Critics Reviews

View All (21) Critics Reviews
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 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Peter Watts Time Out It's messy, but the real problem is: it's not funny. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (215) audience reviews
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 Full Review Bob R Easy watch. Nothing serious easy watch comedy. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/05/24 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Audience Member It's sad that some people don't understand British humour Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews
Blackball

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

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