"Here Comes the Boom" (2012)

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2014)

It's been a long time since I last reviewed a new(-ish) movie for the lovely crowds of IMDb. Earlier today, I got the chance to watch the 2012 martial arts/sports comedy "Here Comes the Boom," directed by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison regular Frank Coraci ("The Wedding Singer," "The Waterboy," "Zookeeper") and starring the always-affable Kevin James.
James is one of the most watchable and likable personalities working in big movies these days. Perhaps, that's why his starring character in "Here Comes the Boom" works so well. The genial, portly James plays 42-year-old, apathetic Boston-area high school biology teacher Scott Voss, who's just screaming for a big "Rocky"-style inspirational makeover.
Voss's inspirational calling comes in the form of looming budget cuts that threatens his school's extracurricular activities, which includes best-pal and dedicated music teacher Marty Streb (Henry Winkler) being laid off and his band program getting axed - unless someone somehow magically comes up with the $48,000 needed to save everything. Bake sales and car washes won't cut it, so Voss does the unthinkable and signs up for a series of amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts, where even the loser can net up to $10,000 - which is more than what most of today's educators make in a month - and the winner can make off with a $50,000 grand prize.
But because Voss is 42 and out-of-shape (though he was a division-one wrestler in college) and COMPLETELY out of his element, no one takes his scheme seriously, though he does find unlikely support in Dutch immigrant and MMA trainer Niko (retired Dutch-American UFC champ Bas Rutten), Mark DellaGrotte (playing himself), Marty, and lovely school nurse Bella Flores (the always-lovely Salma Hayek). And somewhere in there, Voss also manages to find what it takes to live again and inspire his students and everyone else at his school.
"Here Comes the Boom" is pretty by-the-numbers formulaic. But Kevin James keeps everything above water with his cool and personable Everyman portrayal of the once-apathetic Scott Voss. Salma Hayek isn't really given all that much to do, but - damn it - does she light up every scene that she graces. One of the great charms of "Here Comes the Boom" is watching Bas Rutten deliver (what I've seen from him) his best acting portrayal, since it's well-known that most athletes are pretty poor screen performers - the guy energizes every sequence he's in; but watching Rutten here, you get to asking yourself why he hasn't been in more movies before this one.
"Here Comes the Boom" isn't an Oscar-winner by a long shot, but the movie works because of two key players - Kevin James and Bas Rutten. It's not a knock-out winner, but it does land a few solid punches to the gut that will elicit a few painful, well-deserved laughs.
8/10