Rotten Tomatoes Freshness Meter
Critics – 66%
Audience – 49%
What You Should Know
This is a sports movie. About ping pong. Needless to say it is a comedy.
Why You Should Reconsider
My guess is you didn’t hear about ping pong playa or that you did but only after seeing the movie/watching the trailer for Balls of Fury. I can see how you might have thought, “and now they are doing ping pong movies…” and quickly lost interest. While Balls of Fury went the way of slapstick and over-the-top humor ping pong playa’s humor is more grounded in reality. It is a heartfelt, coming of age story about a young man who is a bit of an idiot.
Misconceptions
Although there are certainly moments where the comedy gets quite broad the film does not actively pursue belly-laughs. The humor of the film is character-based and arises, usually, in an organic manner that does not break the fourth wall and call attention to itself. While I keep referring to the film as a comedy it certainly falls into the realm of comedy/drama or comedy/romance which was not conveyed by the film’s trailer.
John Ryan Sullivan 