FlushingCaps Blackball seemed like it might be worth a look, based on the on-screen plot description when I was looking through all the free premium channels offered on my satellite system last weekend. Last night we viewed it and found it to be an utter bore.This is the first movie I've ever seen that has any focus at all on lawn bowling, called "bowls." If you are like most of the people around the world and know little about this sport, after you see this film, you will still know little, but a tiny bit more than before. However, after being introduced to this sport by this movie, you are not likely to become a fan of it in any way.Paul Kaye's lead character, Cliff, was an obnoxious lout who possessed one of the foulest mouths I've ever seen on the screen, dropping F-bombs haphazardly into almost every conversation. While I don't care too much when foul language is used in appropriate situations, I do object to it being used for so many situations that it has virtually no meaning in the conversation. That is what Cliff and others do in this film.The most disturbing thing about Cliff is the stupidity he demonstrates. Supposedly determined to represent England in a competition against Australia, he works for some time to win a county championship that, somehow, will get him selected to represent England. Yet just as he accomplishes the goal, he commits an act of stupidity that the officials in charge not only decide is so egregious that he not only cannot be selected to represent England in the near future, but he is banned from all competition in bowls for 20 years.I can easily deal with a "hero" who has flaws, but Cliff is such a jerk that we viewers never are given any reason to want him to triumph. He is given a love interest and we don't see why the girl cares for him. He gets an American sports agent who manages to get the ban overturned and he is then chosen for the big match against Australia. He is to team in a doubles match with the father of his girlfriend, the longtime club champion who has never represented England, before, for reasons that were never satisfactorily explained.In the spirit of all of the worst sports movies ever filmed, the finishing scenes contain all of the expected cliché devices as we watch our "hero" attempt to win the big match. I endured it all for reasons I do not understand. My wife, the wiser of us, wisely fell asleep less than halfway through this film.The drama was utterly predictable, the laughs were almost totally missing and the reason for making such a dull movie is something I cannot explain. I don't think my negative impression has anything to do with my lack of expertise in lawn bowling because the rules are very much like curling, a sport I have enjoyed over a hundred times on TV and in person. I cannot give this a score higher than a 2.

jeff-686 As our hero in this movie so aptly put it "tossers". You would think some one claiming to be a film critic would at least get their facts right before proving to all and sundry that their research was substandard to say the least.The game depicted in the movie and referred to as bowls is in fact lawn bowls. Some Mid West critics seemed to be confused on that.The game does not involve winning "20 rounds". For a start they are called "ends" and l believe to win you need to score 20 or 21 points depending on the competition.And to my favourite, our hero must win his "county championship" not his "countries (sic) championship" to be able to play for England.Even more deplorable was the attempt by some US critics to explain a game they had no idea of, it would be the equivalent to me describing baseball as "rounders with one team attempting to score more runs than the other". Clearly the game is a lot more complex than a simple statement can cover.I am frankly appalled at the low standard of critcal analysis being displayed by some online US movie sites. By and large the reviews lack research, critical attention to the actual movie itself, (l really don't give a toss about one critic spending 2 paragraphs talking about his Blockbuster movie card), and any evidence that the reviewer has actually seen the movie (a sheep like mentality would seem to run through online reviewers).One thing l will agree with the NY reviewer about though is that this sort of movie has been done to death, and bowls really doesn't capture the imagination as much as the film makers think it will.If really wanting a movie on bowls, might l suggest the Australian Indie "Crackerjack".

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.

Dominix I hired this film from my local library having run out of decent films to watch and absolutely loved it! Yes, it's stupid, no, we don't know what she sees in him, of course bowls is the most boring game in the world. However the one liners (I'm sorry but the moment before the matrix mention is inspired) the marching band and the leopard print bra speak for themselves. The amazing talent that kept popping up was fabulous and the tension build at the end incredible (especially given the subject). It's a fantastic feel-good movie with romance, champagne, porn, cheerleaders, decorators, rebels and, of course, bowls. I'm going to go and watch it again whilst you all sulk!