Balls Up

Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser team up as salesmen from a contraceptive company looking to pitch their innovative design to become the official condom of the World Cup. Despite the deal being practically sealed, earning them VIP tickets to the final, a drunken night out sees them promptly fired after the partnership falls through. Events only get worse for the pair when an embarrassing mishap during a pivotal moment in the match results in them becoming the most hated people in Brazil. This is Balls Up, the latest outing from Peter Farrelly and scripted by Deadpool writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. Despite the comedy royalty involved, this feature is a disjointed and disposable mess that pushes the limit on how many penis jokes can be in one film.

There’s virtually no plot to speak of here. After a lengthy setup, the narrative consists of throwing the leads from one awkward situation into another. These include being held captive by an eccentric drug lord played by Sacha Baron Cohen doing his best Tommy Wiseau impression and spending time in the jungle with a group of environmental activists. There’s no logic or structure to what happens; it’s as if everything was ad-libbed on the spot without a clear sense of direction for where things should be heading.

The jokes these scenes are built around are rarely funny, consisting of either crude shock humour or non-sequiturs that come across as more clunky than quirky. To their credit, Wahlberg and Hauser are fully committed to the bits and bring more energy to the gags than this script deserves. Despite their enthusiasm, there’s not a lot of chemistry between them for audiences to become invested in their misadventure. Hauser plays the mild-mannered oddball while Wahlberg is the brash and hot-headed one. Neither character evolves beyond their two-dimensional archetype, which consequently makes the film’s attempt at a heartwarming conclusion feel shallow.

Balls Up falls far from the comedic standards of what its stars and creators have previously accomplished. It’s the kind of throwaway, straight-to-streaming flick that’s best watched in the background. While it’s not a great film, viewers who are willing to switch off their brains for the duration may be able to salvage some entertainment amongst the juvenile punchlines.