Kevin James? Say what?!

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2013)

Mindset before movie: I watched this on an air-plane returning from a 1 week vacation in Mexico. I've been fighting airport security, line-ups and the Mexican language barrier for 6 hours so I was very tired and unamused. My thought was that though my respect for Kevin James as an actor was hanging by a thread I felt I could use a laugh, whether it was laughing with or laughing at, I didn't care. It was the only comedy on the flight's selection, and it was free, so losses would be painless. Expectations were low.
Mindset after movie: Still tired and slightly disoriented but mind-blown. The respect for Kevin James is now hanging by a rope. You can tell he worked hard for this movie. It had very little of that cartoonish, off-the-wall, slapstick that I have grown to expect out of Kevin James casted movies. There's something at work behind that awkward plump figure of a man. Henry Winkler, hitting the role of a seemingly complex comical character on the head; I feel we need to see this man in more movies. Other notable performances include the big guy with the accent, Bas Rutten. This guy was awesome, sharp, funny and it didn't seem like he was one of those sports figure heads doing his best to do what the director says. The other was Gary Valentine who apparently only plays Kevin James' sibling. It blew my mind to find out they aren't related.
When the credits started rolling I felt the same way I did at the end of "School of Rock". I felt warm and fuzzy and damn proud to be such a devoted music fan. If you're like me and don't like Kevin James or anything Happy Madison has put out in the last 10 years (excluding "Grown-Ups" and "Hotel Transylvania") I still think you should give this movie a shot. It's fun for the whole family over the age of 8. And if there is any scrap of a UFC fighter in you, he/she will be somewhat satisfied as well.