SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

diskground Lovely film, just saw it on Netflix. Paul Kaye is a much underrated comedic actor. Great cameos. Not a contentious bone in its body. I particularly like the way it captures summer in a slightly grainy and slightly gray way. Exactly like a British summer. It goes through the usual plot contrivances you'd expect from what is essentially a sports film, with a sense of gentle satire. The villain of the piece is well cast, too. It feels like it was made around 20 years before it was, but that's not a bad thing. Don't expect it to rock your world, however. It's a very British comedy with swearing.

cstrother-1 Maybe I just do not get it, but it seems basically just unfunny, except that Vince Vaughn nearly pulls the whole thing out. When he is on the screen it is highly watchable. Most of the dialog seems mumbled, except that it is all so predictable that you do not need to hear what is actually said. This working class versus high society sports has certainly been done much better. Caddy Shack certainly comes immediately to mind, but so do most sports movies.I generally like these National Lampoon movies, by the way. Normally no great shakes but decently amusing. This one just seems weak, dilute, uninspired--again, except for Vince Vaughn, who comes across as a giant of a comedian compared to the rest of the cast.

Sirrus1 OK So black ball is a film about bowls! A film that contains lots of obscenity such as words that describe things people do when they are alone and watching films of an adult nature. I myself am doing a degree in film studies. Us Brits have a bit of a problem we are trying to be the Americans the major difference is that we ain't. This film is a feel good movie, simple as. I left feeling happy and contented. We can look deeply and describe what it wasn't so it wasn't Basic Instinct, wasn't Any Given Sunday, wasn't Gladiator. For me it achieved everything it set out to you laughed? If you didn't then you obviously probably find Schindler's List comic. Mel Smith is a comedian and I think a clever one, yes some of the jokes were immature. But for me it had a feeling of Ballykissangel or Monarch of the Glen about it. So come on guys lighten up watch it again and this time let it wash over you don't come up with expectations of a clever political comedy like Wag the Dog because it just ain't there. This is a film that takes you through the trials and tribulations of a person who only finds out what he's gained when he loses it. The two Australian bowlers remind me slightly of the American Athens 4 x 100 metre team all confident winking at the camera. Right until a cheeky Brit goes and nips them at the post.My advice experience this film, watch it with some mates a beer or a glass of wine and laugh at it. Its funny and stop being hyper critical and come out of the intellectual coffins the British film industry has been slipping into.

bob the moo Cliff Starkey comes from the rough end of Torquay but is a master bowls player considering that he refuses to set foot onto the snobbish green of Ray Speight's bowling club. When he hears that Australia's hottest young bowlers are coming to England to play England's county champions, Cliff competes and wins - but an insult to Ray gets him a ban. Things look bleak until an American sports agent steps in and makes Cliff the all new bad boy of bowls - the hottest new sport in the UK.Despite the average reviews for this film and the fact that British comedies are often a very low standard of humour, I decided to watch this film. I was once a bowler myself as a teenager but that played no part in my relative enjoyment of this film. The plot is daft of course but that shouldn't matter as the laughs should make it easy watching; this is sort of the case, but nowhere near enough. The comedy is very broad, which isn't a problem for me; what is a problem is that I wasn't laughing anywhere near enough to support this type of humour. I did laugh but it was inconsistent.Despite this, the film still has enough rough energy to cover it even when it isn't drawing actual laughs. It is amusing in a very basic way and I found it just about did enough to justify watching. The script could really have done more to up the humour - the dialogue is too basic whereas I really think it could have done with being more off the wall and hilarious. As it was I think it relied too heavily on the daftness of the plot and it's energy to get laughs.In terms of energy though, Kaye does well. He is quite good but he has a problem brought about by the fact that his character is an unsympathetic idiot from start to finish. This was an issue as you really need an audience on the side of the main character if we are eventually meant to root for him. Vegas is a very funny man - but here he really needed those `off the wall' lines I referred to before; he is still funny here but only by his appearance. God knows why Vaughan did this film but his was the best character simply because it was off the wall and fun; not his best performance but enjoyably silly. Cromwell adds a bit of weight but does seem too good for this. The support cast is full of British comedians - Cribbins, Staunton, Reeves, McNeice are all good and Tony Slattery is given a silly wig and just let loose. Small roles also for Mark Little and Jon Snow.Overall this is amusing but never really hilarious. It has a few laughs but generally it gets by on raucous energy alone. It is broad and silly but it is worth seeing if you are in a silly mood and not too demanding.