The Film

Jerry Ferro (Adam Carolla) is staring down the barrel of his 40th birthday. The once-promising amateur boxer is now filling out his days with construction work, and giving boxing lessons to middle-class shlubs.

When a respected boxing coach brings him in to spar a few rounds with an up-and-coming pro, Jerry surprises everybody, including himself, by knocking the guy down with a single punch. And so begins Jerry's journey out of the doldrums of his life, and back into the ring one. Last. Time.


Why haven't you seen it?

Because despite decent reviews (71% on RT), it was only released in 34 theaters and pulled subsequently pulled in under half a million dollars at the box office. I actually wanted to see it when it came out, but didn't find it playing. Anywhere.

Why should you see it?

No matter how bad the actor, everybody has at least one role they are capable of playing: themselves. Jerry Farro is Adam Carolla from a parallel universe, where he never gave boxing lessons to Jimmy Kimmel. A former construction worker and Golden Gloves boxer himself, Carolla isn't exactly stretching himself as a performer.

So what you are left with is Carolla the man. If you listen to his podcast, or ever saw him on Loveline on MTV, you know that Carolla is witty, literate, and fast on his feet. The Hammer is Carolla's radio/podcast/Loveline shtick wrapped around the scaffolding of a predictable underdog sports movie plot, all done up in an appealing low-key, indie film wrapper. (If you saw him on The Man Show, I implore you to give him a second chance.  Nobody should be judged for life based on their worst mistake.)

I caught it on one of the HBO networks this weekend, intending to give it a few minutes to snag my attention. I ended up watching the whole thing, and recording the last 15 minutes to watch when I got back from an errand. Much like Carolla himself, give this movie a chance to charm you and I gaurantee it will succeed.