Once in a While a Movie Surprises You

Most people know Adam Carolla as the host of The Man Show on Comedy Central or as the co-host of Loveline, an MTV staple for a while. His whiney tone and sluggish delivery make him a bit of an oddity. Despite his shortcoming as a performer, he does have a strong following. I'm sure high school boys enjoy his flatulence humor, his rants against traffic cops, and his constant references to porn. I remember when Carolla was among those auditioning for the Late Late Show gig that Craig Ferguson eventually landed, and he made an appearance on David Letterman's show. Letterman was almost speechless as Carolla went on about how he hated the custom of blowing out birthday candles, "who wants a cake covered in snot?" he asked. Letterman blinked and pursed his lips.

All that being said, listening to and watching Adam Carolla has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. For a while I regularly tuned into his radio show with Dr. Drew Pinsky to hear his ridiculous rants -- "are there any people on this planet stupider than our listeners?" he would ask. Carolla has since left that show to replace Howard Stern on morning radio on the west coast, and he has fallen off the radar screen a bit for me.

When I saw the reviewers on Richard Roeper's At the Movies show give positive notice to Carolla's movie, The Hammer (2007), I was stunned and intrigued. As it turns out, this movie is actually an amusing little character study with elements that can appeal to everyone. It has a boxing storyline that avoids being corny even if it is predictable, and it has a love story that is believable and unsentimental. Carolla is even able to incorporate all his favorite schtick (the snot on the cake, lesbians at the hardware store, pedantic state troopers, idiocy from his days as a carpenter) without making this feel like this is just material left over from The Jimmy Kimmel Show. I was most surprised by not being inundated with gross-out humor; Superbad, a much better film, had a much much higher squirm factor for me. Make no mistake, this is not a great film by any means, but if you see it on cable or you're having trouble finding something in the video store, give it a shot. It's worth a chuckle.