Kicking and Screaming is the latest from that endlessly dopey, but all too lovable man child Will Ferrell. And while I would call this the worst of his last several films (i.e. Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Melinda and Melinda etc.), Ferrell still manages to bring a smile to my face. And to his credit, this is far superior to the films he was doing while he was still at Saturday Night Live (avoid Night At the Roxbury at all costs).

Kicking and Screaming's plot is extremely stock. It features Ferrell as Phil Weston, a competitive man who would love nothing more than to beat his equally competitive father Buck (played by Robert Duvall) at...well...just about anything. Phil finds himself in a unique situation when he is suddenly appointed the captain of his son's soccer team. And wouldn't you know it? Buck happens to coach in the same league. Not surprisingly, the film makes it's way toward the inevitable "big game" in which Ferrell not only hopes to defeat his father's team, but earn his respect as well.

This movie is relentlessly silly, but never aspires to be anything more. Kicking and Screaming isn't non-stop hilarity, but the laughs it does offer up, are sizable enough. My favorite moment features Phil and his bloodied team arriving to a game immediately following assisting a couple of teammates at a local meat market. Rather than getting cleaned up after chopping up a huge order of cold cuts, Phil and his boys opt to go straight to the game in the interest of saving time. Upon their arrival, the other team is so terrified by their appearance that they high-tail it out of there, thus forfeiting the game. Those of you looking for a magical underdog sports film, might as well stay home. Kicking and Screaming isn't interested in such business. This movie is really just a vehicle that allows Will Ferrell riff, and riff he does.

Ferrell is amusing as always. He'll do just about anything for a laugh. Even when this funny man is seemingly mired in a labored bit (such as going on a caffeine high after becoming addicted to coffee), Ferrell, more often than not, pulls it off. Robert Duvall appears to be having a fun time, and it's always amusing to see a veteran actor of his caliber do a light movie like this, provided he doesn't do it too often (I mean seriously, Robert DeNiro - enough with the focking lame-ass comedies already). Perhaps the most amusing performance in the picture comes courtesy of one time Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. He's a riot as Buck's neighbor, and proves to have a natural screen presence particularly when he takes on the unlikely job of Phil's assistant coach. His banter with Ferrell on the playing field is obvious, but extremely funny.

Sadly, Kicking and Screaming has one too many slow patches. It isn't consistently funny enough to fully recommend. While this is a movie for the whole family, I would have preferred the film offer up a little more smarts. A couple of years back, Jack Black managed to take a simplistic, one-trick-pony and transform it into something rich and meaningful in the form of the hilarious School of Rock. While Ferrell is up to the comedic challenge here, he is constrained by a plot that isn't willing to go anywhere we haven't been before. Thankfully though, this ex-Saturday Night Live man livens up the proceedings enough to keep this picture from turning into another Ladybugs. In the end, Kicking and Screaming was decent enough, but quite frankly, it could have used a little more cow bell.