Blackball

2003

Comedy / Drama / Sport

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 38% · 21 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 42% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 4577 4.6K

sports

Please enable your VPΝ when downloading torrents

If you torrent without a VPΝ, your ISP can see that you're torrenting and may throttle your connection and get fined by legal action!

Get Expert VPΝ

Plot summary

Blackball follows the fortunes of Cliff Starkey, a working-class fine of lawn bowls with an exceptional talent. Wanting to take on the Aussies he manages to become regional champion, only to get banned. Sports agent Rich Schwartz picks him up and makes him so popular the Bowls Committee deem to lift the ban. Now the question is whether he can regain his form and his friends to beat the Aussies.

Director

Mel Smith Photo
Mel Smith

Top cast

James Cromwell Photo
James Cromwell as Ray
Vince Vaughn Photo
Vince Vaughn as Rick
Imelda Staunton Photo
Imelda Staunton as Bridget
Paul Kaye Photo
Paul Kaye as Cliff
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
890.79 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 3
1.61 GB
1918*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 10

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Angel-Shadow 7 / 10

A Damn Good Watch!!!!

When first being sent this film for Christmas by a few family friends it didn't really strike me as the type of film that i should devote my time to watching, (never judge a book by its cover) , as i always do when doing History work for my upcoming GCSE's i decide to watch a film. Normally this is Shawshank or Pulp fiction or a classic of that nature. Yesterday i decided to crack open Blackball, and i wasn't disappointed. Paul Kay provides in my view his personally career topping performance with a great portrayal as Cliff Starky, with most surprisingly Johnny Vegas pulling of a decent film role. This portrayal of bowls brings a witty, humorous and overall shining side to the sport of bowls and shows that some sports need to escape from their stereotypical, pod so to speak. Vince Vaughn provides a great supporting feature to the film with witty comments and great dialect to bring to live the humour of the film. The film also adds a bit of spice with Alice Evans giving a solid at times attractive performance as Kerry speight and helps the film run smoothly. I feel the real star of the show was James Cromwell who really put this film up from a 2-3 to a 7 showing his experience as and actor and portraying Ray speight perfectly. All together i feel this is a great watch lacking a fantastic plot with witty good humoured fun and at times a very good laugh. I highly recommend you at least give this British film (my proud country :) a try :).
Reviewed by lairyfairie 7 / 10

Great for a gentle Sunday afternoon comedy.

8 out of 10 for the kind of film it is. Its not intelligent, gritty or groundbreaking but as a standard underdog versus the top dogs kinda film, it holds up well. Lots of funny moments and a decent cast. Don't be put off by the poor reviews, just make sure you watch it at the right time and in the right mood.
Reviewed by rob-236 7 / 10

Torquay's answer to "Kingpin"

A very funny British sporting comedy from Mel Smith (Bean, High Heels and Low lifes), which involves a similar sport, and in turn could be deemed as Torquay's answer to "Kingpin" - its certainly as crazy and entertaining.Torquay painter and decorator, and local loser - Cliff Starkey (Paul Kaye – aka British TV's Dennis Pennis) has a talent - it may not be wallpapering but he has a talent - and that talent is crown green bowls. His uncle (Bernard Cribbins of `Carry On' fame) dragged him along as a youngster every time he played, and with the knowledge of the sport drummed into him along with the games he played with his uncle in order to "stop him going mental" Cliff soon becomes a master of the bowling green.One problem - The local bowls club can't stand him. One member inparticaular - 15 year running bowls champion, and president, snobby Ray Speight (James Cromwell – LA Confidential, The Green Mile) has a particular dislike of Cliff, he comes from the wrong side of the tracks and strikes up a "friendship" with his daughter (Alice Evans – 102 Dalmatians).But Cliff's obvious talent surfaces and soon a slimy American agent (Vince Vaughn - Swingers) takes Cliff under his wing and using his TV connections, bowls becomes the biggest and most lucrative sporting attraction since the Premiership – with Cliff becoming the `David Beckham' of bowls. Can he handle the pressure?, Can he inspire the England bowling team to victory over the `undeafeatble' Australian Doohan brothers?, will his `portly' lifelong friend and newly appointed bodyguard Trevor (Johnny Vegas – TV's Happiness) stop clearing out the catering stand? – Watch it and find out, it's well worth an hour and a half of your time.
Read more IMDb reviews

1 Comment

Be the first to leave a comment