Best known as the former host of Loveline and The Man Show and the current host of his own morning-radio program (which airs locally on Xtreme Radio 107.5-FM), Carolla proves semi-credible in his first major movie role, playing a boxer getting one more chance at the big time in the hokey, predictable The Hammer. Inviting comparisons to Rocky at every turn (even punctuating a training montage with a bit of “Eye of the Tiger”), The Hammer inevitably comes off as woefully inferior, although it’s so good-natured that it’s difficult to hate.
Carolla is Jerry Ferro, an aimless loser who celebrates his 40th birthday by getting fired from his job as a carpenter and dumped by his girlfriend. His only refuge are the boxing classes he teaches at the local gym, thanks to his status as a former Golden Gloves champion. One seemingly lucky punch attracts the attention of a veteran coach, who gives Jerry hope that he might have a shot at trying out for the Olympic boxing team.
The movie hits all the expected beats, giving Jerry a cocky young rival who eventually becomes his ally; a spunky, supportive new love interest; a grizzled old trainer; and a wacky sidekick, played by Carolla’s real-life buddy and former construction co-worker Castillo. It lopes along at a genial but lifeless pace; never does there seem to be much at stake for Jerry or anyone else, and the victories and defeats are presented with equal indifference. Herman-Wurmfeld’s direction is anonymous and flat, failing to imbue the boxing scenes with any excitement and letting Carolla riff aimlessly during dialogue scenes full of jump cuts that lazily justify his repeated jokes on mundane topics.
Based partly on Carolla’s real life (he was both an amateur boxer and a carpenter before becoming an on-air annoyance), The Hammer plays mostly like wish-fulfillment for its star, whose character gets just about the happiest ending you could imagine. As an actor, Carolla can’t really carry any serious emotional moments, but he’s not nearly as bad as Castillo, who sounds like he learned his lines phonetically. And the tame Juergensen makes for a weak love interest (not that she and Carolla have any chemistry anyway).
Still, for a vanity project that looks like it had a budget in the double digits and was shot on weekends when Carolla wasn’t busy with his radio show, The Hammer is at least brisk, and gives Carolla’s everyman audience exactly what they’re probably looking for: validation that they, too, could be accomplished athletes if they ever decided to get off the couch.
The Hammer
**
Adam Carolla, Oswaldo Castillo, Heather Juergensen
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Rated R