One of Will Ferrell’s funnier over-the-top comedies, with a great sense of 70’s fun.

Writing: How much does one really expect out of the writing for movies like this? As long as it can holds things together well enough to get the jokes across and give the actors some material to have fun with, it’ll do. Surprisingly, this script does sneak in some nice character material from time to time, mostly involving Woody Harrelson and Maura Tierney’s characters.

Production: There’s no shortage of great period design work on display. From the great sets and decor to the hilarious costumes, it all works splendidly. The production teams definitely take some creative license to take things just a bit farther than reality to give the period jokes that extra edge.

Cast: There’s no denying that movies like this only work when you can get the right cast in the mix. Will Ferrell’s role is nothing short of an obvious Will Ferrell role, so there’s no surprise in the fact that he works well in it. Woody Harrelson is a hoot as the washed up basketball star, and he plays very well off of Ferrell. The great Maura Tierney is well cast against Harrelson as a romantic foil. There’s some great little casting touches like Rob Corddry and Tim Meadows in fun roles. Other supporting roles go to a range of actors, who all have plenty of fun, including Will Arnett, David Koechner and Andy Richter.

Music: Theodore Shapiro probably scores more major studio comedies than most anyone else. And frankly, he does a better job at it than most, typically giving things a bigger, richer score than one would normally expect. In this case, he embraces the funkiness of the era while slipping into the ambitious sports scoring side of things nicely.

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