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Kicking and Screaming Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG (for thematic elements, language, and some crude humor) Theater release: October 06, 1995 by Universal Pictures Directed by: Jesse Dylan Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes Cast: Will Ferrell (Phil Weston), Robert Duvall (Buck Weston), Mike Ditka (himself), Kate Walsh (Barbara Weston), Dylan McLaughlin (Sam Weston), Josh Hutcherson (Bucky Weston), Musetta Walker (Janice Weston) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

The clout of SNL alum Will Ferrell as a box office draw has only grown since 2003's family friendly Elf, followed by the PG-13 rated Anchorman in 2004. So despite the title, you won't have to drag kids (or adults) to Kicking & Screaming.

It also helps that the film subject is one of the most popular sports with children today. Yet despite coining the soccer mom demographic more than a decade ago, it's taken this long to create a definitive movie focused on the enormous popularity of youth soccer. And despite regular news stories about overzealous parents who become more emotionally invested in the game than their offspring, it's still a timely premise.

Set (but not filmed) in the Chicago suburbs, Ferrell plays Phil Weston, a mild-mannered vitamin salesman with his own health store. Despite a loving family and a successful business, we learn that he's never lived up to the expectations of his fanatically competitive father Buck (Robert Duvall), the owner of a popular sporting goods store and coach of the Gladiators, the local champion soccer team.

Will Ferrell plays youth soccer coach Phil Weston

Because Buck is so focused on his team's success, Phil's 10-year-old son Sam (Dylan McLaughlin), a member of his grandpa's team, spends more time warming the bench than he does running on the field. In an underutilized gag, Buck's star player is his own boy Bucky (Josh Hutcherson), the product of his second marriage—and thus Phil's 10-year-old stepbrother. When Phil implores for his father to give Sam more game time, he learns that Buck has already transferred his grandson to the Tigers ("You traded my son?" "Well, I didn't actually get anything for him … ").

Unfortunately, the Tigers are in last place, due to questionable talent and a coach so dispassionate, he ditches the team after the first game of the season. Determined to make his son happy, Phil volunteers to coach the Tigers, which of course ends up playing the Gladiators in his first game. It isn't long before the athletically challenged father learns that he's in over his head, but how to shape up the team in short time?

Simple. Mike Ditka—former coach of the Chicago Bears—happens to be Buck's next-door neighbor and "mortal enemy"—developments like this only occur in comedies. The two have a viscous rivalry, so the legendary Ditka is all too happy to serve as Phil's assistant and whip the kids into shape. Additionally, he helps recruit two Italian soccer prodigies from the neighborhood who immediately become the Tigers' primary game plan: "Pass it to the Italians."

Robert Duvall (left) plays Phil's overly competitive father

Soon the Tigers are winning games, but at what cost? And as Phil gains a taste for competitive sports (not to mention caffeine), he begins to change as well. After a heated match of tetherball, father and son make a serious wager concerning their two teams, taking their competitive relationship to overenthusiastic levels.

Granted, originality is not one of the film's stronger suits. Like so many other retreads of The Bad News Bears or The Mighty Ducks, Kicking & Screaming relies on the usual clichés: the training montages, the championship match, the unbelievable game-winning shot. It's also got a few of those "Gimme a break" moments, like the kid who suddenly plays better when the coach realizes he just needs a pair of glasses.

But the big game in Kicking & Screaming is only part of the story. The familial relationships and themes of inspiring confidence are more central to the story. They add a new dimension to the final game, thus making it somewhat more unpredictable. You don't want either Weston to win because it reinforces their bad behavior—something else has to give before we can root for one of them.

For better or worse, good comedy is rooted in reality. We've all experienced overzealous parents firsthand, or else heard horror stories about the lengths they'll go to in order to live vicariously through their children. This isn't just a movie about lovable losers trying to prove themselves. It's also about the difference between winning at all costs and having fun. And it deals with parental expectations and reconciliation, both between Phil and Sam as well as Buck and Phil.

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