Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Hammer

From a story he wrote, The Hammer stars comedian Adam Corrola as Jerry, a 40 year old who has just lost his job and his girlfriend. Once a promising young boxer, he is approached at the gym by his old boxing trainer with an opportunity to train for a tryout for the Olympics. The unlikely boxer takes his chances and begins gearing up for the big fight, not knowing that he is being used by his trainer. The Hammer is a slight film that benefits tremendously from Corrola's dry, sarcastic sense of humor, something I have always responded well to. The story is not well realized, the same goes for the supporting characters, and the ending is laughable, but Corrola is able to carry the film to a certain level of enjoyment even if it isn't a total knockout.