Kicking & Screaming

Phil Weston has never been much of an athlete, and his ten-year-old son Sam seems to be heading the same way. When Sam is benched by his grandfather Buck, a fiercely competitive man who coaches the league's top team, Phil takes matters into his own hands. He volunteers to coach a different, struggling children's soccer team, and the move turns a long-running father-son rivalry into a direct contest on the pitch, with the two men leading opposing sides toward the championship.

Jesse Dylan directed the film, the third feature in his directing career after How High and American Wedding. Steve Rudnick and Leo Benvenuti wrote the screenplay, and Jimmy Miller and Mia Apatow produced it. Will Ferrell plays Phil, Robert Duvall plays Buck, and former NFL coach Mike Ditka appears as himself. Kate Walsh, Musetta Vander and Dylan McLaughlin round out the main cast, which numbers 64 credited performers in total.

Released in May 2005, the comedy runs 95 minutes. Made for about 45 million dollars, it took in roughly 56 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 5.6 out of 10 from around 44,000 votes, and on TMDB a 5.8 from just over 700 votes. A critics' score of 5.2 from 141 reviews places professional reaction slightly below the audience averages.