Knowing Adam Carolla's usual brand of comedy, The Hammer might come as a big surprise. Especially if you're more familiar with his The Man Show, or his voice work on Drawn Together. The Hammer is surprisingly devoid of crude and politically incorrect humor, and the character he portrays doesn't have a mean streak in him—the kind of person that would actually give advice to his enemy—even though it's written by Carolla himself and his The Man Show producer Kevin Hench. The Hammer is warm and light-hearted in tone, sort of a Rocky story, with the rags-to-riches ambition replaced by a mid-life crisis. This Adam Carolla vehicle is actually a romantic comedy, and an adorable one at that.
Carolla plays Jerry "The Hammer" Ferro, a once-promising amateur boxer, now a forty-year-old carpenter who just lost his construction job and his girlfriend. While working as a gym instructor, an Olympic hopeful stops by and challenges him to a spar. Ferro knocks the guy out, catching the attention of a boxing coach who then urges Ferro to try out for the Olympic regionals.
The Hammer is partly based on Carolla's real experiences. Like Ferro, Carolla was also a Golden Gloves boxer, a construction worker, and part-time boxing instructor. Carolla's Nicaraguan immigrant friend Oswaldo Castillo plays Ozzy, Ferro's Nicaraguan immigrant friend; a role that requires him to be Carolla's sidekick and confidante. Of course, instead of meeting an Olympic boxing coach, in real life Carolla met Jimmy Kimmel and started on his path to show business, leaving competitive boxing behind. Jerry Ferro is the alternate universe version of Carolla where no Hollywood success has saved him from being a middle-aged deadbeat. To Ferro, boxing is where he can correct his own insignificance. So he trains his way into being a contender to represent USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This isn't strictly a boxing movie, however, but rather the story of a nice guy/loser putting his life together again after an eye-opening 40th birthday. It's certainly not a sports movie spoof. Still, in a refreshing turn, Ferro didn't miss the boat on becoming a pro boxer because of a tragic injury or some life-shattering event like they do in sports movies. He just preferred smoking pot and playing video games to rigorous physical training, and don't we all in our lazy youth? Rocky Balboa was similar in how it also portrayed an aging boxer trying to recapture past glory, but Rocky had the motivation and the drive, and it was more about having his physique catch up to that drive. The Hammer has a capable boxer in Ferro, but what he's lacking is that motivation. It's both hilarious and touching to watch him discover this.
Romance rears its head when Ferro falls for one of his students at the gym, a public defender named Lindsay (played by Heather Juergensen, reuniting her with her Kissing Jessica Stein director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld). Occasionally the movie strays far away from boxing, showing Ferro's building relationship with Lindsay. When was the last time a movie about a forty-year-old boxer is also a cute date movie?
There's a certain sweet-natured charm to Carolla's portrayal of Ferro. The Hammer isn\'t about triumphing over anything—a rivalry built between Ferro and his fellow contenders quickly turn into friendship—except maybe your own insecurities. As such, you can even call this movie an uplifting tale, though they certainly don't make a big deal out of it. Carolla is, of course, playing a slightly different version of himself, and that's part of the success. So much of the humor is just from his jocular comments, and him alone made the movie; though that is to not to say that his supporting cast stand around slack-jawed. They're good in their respective roles, but the movie is all about Carolla's single-handed deadpan charisma. The Hammer is not much, but it is a witty little movie, and definitely worth the time.
"The Hammer" opens March 21, 2008 and is rated R. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Charles Herman Wurmfeld. Written by Adam Carolla (story), Kevin Hench. Starring Adam Carolla, Heather Juergensen, Oswaldo Castillo, Harold House Moore, Tom Quinn.
