The Calcium Kid (2004)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Alex De Rakoff

Writers:

Derek Boyle (screenplay)
Alex De Rakoff (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It takes a lotta bottle to be the champ

Plot:

The film is a mockumentary comedy, in which Bloom plays young milkman Jimmy. He is an amateur boxer who by a bizarre twist of events ends up fighting the world champion in his home town. |

Plot Keywords:

Boxer | Milkman | Champion | Mockumentary | Irish

Cast

Mark Heap	...	Sebastian Gore-Brown
Michael Lerner	...	Artie Cohen
Ronni Ancona	...	Pat Connelly
Michael Peña	...	Jose Mendez
Julian Zapata	...	Jose's Entourage
Alejandro Ramirez	...	Jose's Entourage
Milton Hernandez	...	Jose's Entourage
Alberto Ramon	...	Jose's Entourage
Hector Trujillo	...	Jose's Entourage
John Correa	...	Jose's Entourage
Janier Morales Drado	...	Jose's Entourage
Wilson Cretaro da Luz Jr.	...	Jose's Entourage
Tamer Hassan	...	Pete Wright
Omid Djalili	...	Herbie Bush
John Joyce	...	Jon Wright

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jamie Gambell]when Stan is fighting with various people in the bar, the guy that he is wrestling with on the pool table is the second boom operator.

Quotes:

Jimmy: I'm a bit confused about everything that's going on at the moment.
Clive Connelly: Does it feel like everyone's trying to pull your pants down, son?
Jimmy: Yeah. Yeah, that's it exactly.
Clive Connelly: My advice to you is... start wearing a belt.

Movie Connections:

References The Rumble in the Jungle (1974)

Soundtrack:

Ghosts

cute movie

I've read all the terrible reviews; I wasn't expecting much, especially since I'm unlikely to get any British humor (being in the US and growing up in Asia). But the movie really surprised me at how many times it made me laugh out loud.

The performances are great fun to watch. Yes, the characters are cliché and very 1-D, but they are played with enough enthusiasm and charm to make up for the 'weak' script. There are places where the movie falls on the 'wrong/bad' side of cringe-worthy, like some scenes with Herbie(the manager) and Stan (the best friend), but overall, it's an enjoyable way to spend two hours.

And then, there's Jimmy (Orlando Bloom's character), who with his naivete and haplessness, manages to 'preach' without ever sounding preachy or cheesy. I know this is no Oscar movie, but it isn't as mindless as some comedies out there. At its heart, spoken through Jimmy's dad's quotes, are some good really messages. It's almost a shame that the movie isn't cut for a younger audience. It'd be a good diversion from the usual 'teen queen' movies flooding the cinemas these days.