An overenthusiastic high-school maintenance man attempts to lead an unlikely group of misfits to the Nebraska state tennis championship in Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story? director Danny Leiner's underdog sports comedy. American Pie star Seann William Scott stars as the ambitious janitor who believes he has what it takes to coach the winning team.

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Dakotaen from Kalundborg, Denmark
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When I first read a review of this movie, I wasn't sure I'd even bother watching it. But, since I'm a major fan of Seann William Scott, I just had to. And I'm happy I did! There's no doubt that the humor is aimed for a specific audience, and if you're looking for mature jokes, at least decent acting and/or a great storyline, you may as well go find another movie, 'cause you won't get any of those things here.

However, if you, like myself, enjoy stupid jokes, immaturity on a high level, and acting that doesn't need to be great, as long as it's funny, you've got a winner right here. From little girls who apparently use the internet too much, to china men laughing their balls off, over to Indonesian table tennis players who don't speak a lick of English, this flick just kicks you in the nuts at every turn, and that in a good way, I might add.

Whenever I rate a movie, I don't look at individual acting, sets, lighting, directing or any other kind of technical pestilence. I aim directly at entertainment value on a personal level. And this movie entertained me all the way through, hence I give it an 8 out of 10. I advise everyone with a deep-in-the-dirt sense of humor to watch this, and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks to the makers.

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MacAindrais from Canada
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Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story (2009) **

From Dodgeball to ping pong to basketball and even ice skating, sports have been the basis for wacky oddball comedies as of late, some better and funnier than others. This one doesn't star Will Ferrel or Vince Vaughan. Instead, it's Sean William Scott. He's been been funny before, so O.K., not a bad start.

The film's script apparently also won an award, I'm told. I'm not really sure how. There's nothing new or unexpected. It's the usual routine: a group of misfits gets an unruly new coach who turns them around and leads them to glory.

Sean William Scott plays tennis hasbeen/never-was Gary. He went on the Mexican semi-pro tour after a few incidents in college, before settling down in Nebraska, because it's as good as anywhere really. Plus the real estate is cheap (referring to a banged up motor home). He became an engineer - the custodial branch. One day he gets the itch an runs out on the tennis court while the high school team is practicing. The coach (Randy Quaid) recruits him as his assistant. Gary, for some reason, is enamored with the coach, but then he dies. Because he's not a teacher, the school can't make him the head coach, at least officially. The new head coach (or co-assistant coach) has no experience with tennis, or any other sport he says. In order to honor the late coach, Gary is determined to coach the tennis team to a state championship.

The cast includes lots of the usual oddballs: the gifted tennis player who reminds Gary of himself; wimpy kids afraid of getting hit with the ball; the sexy foreign language teacher as the subject of the protagonist's desires. There's also the late coach's teenage daughter, who interestingly, but oddly, has the hots for Gary before becoming the love interest of the teams star player. Gary even recruits the weird foreign kid - a pro ping pong player from the Philippines. He's never played tennis before, but his hand/eye coordination must be amazing, as Gary points out.

Balls Out actually does manage to be occasionally endearing with its goofy characters. And Sean William Scott really can play a dirty greaser very well - thanks most probably to his ability to grow a mean fumanchu. He seems so greasy it's almost offputting at times, but funny at others. When the late coach's daughter plants one on him, for a minute it seems plausible that he'll actually go through with it. That scene does lead to the film's mandatory act of turmoil and challenge. Of course, it's overcome though.

I had a fair share of laughs, but only a few roarers. The exchange student is comical in how quickly he himself becomes almost Gary's partner in crime after moving into the motor home with him. In the end, Balls Out just isn't consistently funny enough, and too many of the big jokes fall flat. The film will likely be released amid the January slew of films that studios would rather forget they made. I can't see the movie making a big box office splash, but it might do alright depending on what weekend it lands.

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cinefile1968 from Australia
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OK, so this isn't exactly the next deer hunter. but i was hugely entertained by this flick. out of nowhere a night in turned into a night of complete hilarity.

if you're in the mood for something with depth, this isn't exactly the film for you. But for the light hearted comedy this film provides, it definitely deserves to show up as a blip on the viewers radar! Surprisingly i found a few fairly brilliant lines in this films and if you look past the slightly weak direction you will find an immenecely entertaining performance from sean william and a brilliantly entertaining film.

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Manyx X from London
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I enjoyed this movie very much and i think that this is a classic Sean William Scot movie. I admit that some bits of the movie have been done before and there are a lot of cliches in it. The movie really could have used some new jokes.... I really wasn't expecting more than what i have seen in the last comedies of Sean William Scot and in some way it met my expectation. Also i think that Sean William Scot didn't perform at his best and sometimes the acting wasn't that great. For people who are looking for something more than a funny movie i advice them to look somewhere else.

I rate it 7/10 because it could have been better.

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schweikera from United States
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Well firstly I will say that when I heard about the name change for this movie, I didn't like the title "Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story." I thought it was much better as "Gary The Tennis Coach." I was further disappointed by the trailer which gave me the impression that it was a really stupid comedy that looked like a waste of money to see. However, I decided to see it anyway and I'm glad I did.

Don't judge this movie by the title or the trailer. Although slow in some parts, it offers many many laughs. Seann William Scott's odd character repeatedly had me laughing at several points. This was supported by Randy Quaid's brief character and the rest of the tennis team and several other funny supporting characters. I particularly enjoyed Seann William Scott's scenes with Brando Eaton, who played Mike Jenson, the tennis team captain. If you are on the fence about this movie, I would recommend watching it, as I was on the fence too. Some people may agree with me and some may not and I will admit that it was slow in certain points, but when there was humor present it was funny. I give it an overall rating of 7/10 "Decent."

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Floated2
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Being a fan of Seann William Scott, I decided to check this film out to see if many of the positive user reviews were accurate, but after watching this film I disagree on many accounts. I think Scott (Gay Houseman) does a decent job as the lead but the film lacks good humour and a decent script. It's basically about a former tennis star whom gets transfered to become a janitor then ultimately ends up coaching a senior tennis team to victory. It's another one of those underdog sports films, and having seen many of them, this film is pretty much no different. (as in predictable). It first starts with the team being a horrible team- never winning anything then once Houseman comes along, he trains them and in the end, the team wins the ultimate trophy.

I really didn't find the humour all that funny at all. It was more crude humour with a lot of F-words muttered by Houseman about everything other word, and I think the jokes fell a little flat. Some of the jokes include a little girl cursing a lot (one instance at the very end when a player is down, and she uses it as motivation), continuity jokes with a foreign Filipino student acting strange, an Asian grandpa laughing moronically, a few instances with midgets, and a lot of other gags and jokes involving the dialogue.

For this film, I also found that there were many subplots involving Gary Houseman. (Him liking the Spanish teacher, involving himself with the Coach's daughter, the foreign student gags, training the star player on the team- though this becomes the main plot to the end). Seann William Scott was in about every scene of this film so he had to carry the load but was let down by bad directing and a bad script. The film was just too predictable and clichéd. It also went a little deep with a religious type line from Gary towards the final 20 mins of the film. He was speaking to Mike (one of his players), and he says "If God didn't exist, you would invent him" (at 1:10:40). From that moment this film shifts a little from crude humour and becomes more sports oriented. He works on training Mike to win the trophy for the school.

This film is probably best for fans of SWS, fans of tennis, or those that like this crude type of humour. I tried liking the films humour but I just didn't find it funny. I think that Seann William Scott was a little desperate for cash at the time, or was doing this for a favour for the director (same director who made Dude, Where's my Car?). This film is basically a tennis version of "Eastbound and Down", with Danny McBride. Both have a lot of similarities, similar type humour, both lead characters act alike except Houseman seems to be more sincere and care more about his players than himself- was less selfish.

All in all, this film wasn't that great, it was somewhat entertaining and could have been better. But I can see why this didn't get a theatrical release. Anyway judge for yourself!

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stringer26 from United States
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I first found this movie on one of the pay channels and didn't know it existed. It had gone straight to video. That's probably due to the limited appeal the title would have to most people, but to anyone who's ever played the game, this film is hysterical. The tennis parts are dead-on accurate, the jokes are off the wall, and the actors soon grow on you. I've watched this film at least 10 times, and it gets funnier with every viewing. I've never viewed a film that many times. This film was written by two tennis players. At least somebody put it on the line to make a niche film that at least insiders would find hysterical. This would be a great film for a HS coach to show his team before the season started, at the possible risk of his job. It'd be worth it.

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p-stepien from United Kingdom
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Gary (Sean William Scott) is a failed tennis player, who did some semi-pro circuits in Mexico before getting thrown out. Penniless with his dreams in tatters in ends up in a small Nebraska town, where he decides to drop tennis and focus on different goals. Like being a school janitor. Fate has a funny way of punching you in the balls and push comes to shove when Gary ends up training the school's loser tennis team.

Sean William Scott is an immensely talented comedian with so many areas he could explore with his comedic feel. Unfortunately most of his career paths involve eating turds, defecating and/or barfing. This movie is no exception to the rule with fart jokes coupled with some midget humour being the norm and slightly more congenial jokes coming sparse, if at all. That said some of the especially absurd humour really made me laugh.

The movie really doesn't build too well and tends to bore a bit with no real story building apart from the stereotypical losers turning into winners. All in all this is Sean William Scott running the show and if you have disliked all the stuff he has done in the past just pass on this movie. For the rest - nothing special, but if you have a couple of beers, spare time and no great expectations why not...

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rockdalecop from United States
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All I can say is this movie has it's moments. It kinda reminds me of Me Myself and Irene. The main character is an out of this world figure that stands out in a crowd big time. Most of the humor is very vulgar. But funny non the less. This movie is good to kill time to say the least. Not recommended for younger audiences though. The scene with the young girl talking to her dad is funny as hell. And so is the scene involving the strap on!.I think it's old Farelly brothers humor. Randy Quaid is funny as always here. When you see it, make sure you have plenty of cold beer. I'm not sure what the director has done previously, but I think he will do good things.

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Fred Schaefer from United States
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BALLS OUT: GARY THE TENNIS COACH; that title pretty much gives away the level of humor in this film. It's an attempt by the director of DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR and HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE to repeat those earlier successes with very mixed results. The star of this effort, Sean William Scott has been funny in a lot of movies, the American PIE series and ROLE MODELS would top the list, but his washed up tennis pro, Gary Houseman, is no Stifler. I found this movie to be more like THE CABLE GUY, in that it's a comedy built around a main character who is more than a little off. Gary, the pro turned janitor turned high school tennis coach, is creepy, mean, obnoxious, and utterly oblivious to how he comes off to other people. Yet this jerk somehow gets the job done by taking a Nebraska High School tennis team made up of misfits and oddballs to the state championship.

If you're a fan of Randy Quaid, (and who isn't),then you might be disappointed, as his role is rather brief. This must have been one his last parts before going round the bend and over the edge. Actor and Youtuber Justin Chon and Brando Eaton play members of the tennis team and have some funny scenes playing off S.W.S.

The humor is consistently crude: lots of drinking, puking, and taking dumps; racist by the standards of the PC crowd: jokes at the expense of Asians. In other words, plenty of good old bad taste, although the foul mouthed little girl might be going a bit far. If you like this kind of stuff, then no problem, but it's been done better; just check out the movies mentioned at the top of this review.

So while it is not HAPPY GILMORE or THE WATER BOY, BALLS OUT does have it's moments and is a good DVD to watch if your standards aren't too high and your funny bone easily tickled.

And somebody get Sean William Scott a good role, the guy can be hilarious with the right material.

Despite being direct-to-DVD in the US, the film was shown in theaters in Iceland.
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To date, the last film to feature Randy Quaid.
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Script was discovered by the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 2005, going on to win the top prize. Within days, BlueCat sent screenplay to producer Peter Morgan to read.
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male nudity|tennis racket|tennis|owl|mini dress|blue panties|female removes her clothes|female removes her dress|tennis ball|escort girl|lincoln nebraska|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Australia:MA / Finland:K-13 / Iceland:12 / Portugal:M/16 / UK:15 / USA:R