Catch da Flava Radio - Kicking and Screaming

For this episode of Health Talks Radio, host Travis chatted with Judy about the hilarious sports comedy “Kicking and Screaming” starring Will Ferrell. Centred around the dysfunctional grown adult Phil Weston and his traumatic relationship to his father who always wants to “win”, Phil never feels adequate enough living under the shadow of his father’s enormous ego. In constant competition, Phil’s first son is born the same day his father has another child, and who then grow up to be on the same soccer team coached by Phil’s father. His son is always benched, while Phil’s brother always plays in the games, until his son is traded for the gang of misfit soccer team The Tigers. Eventually, Phil is cast as their coach and he is directly in competition with his father, feeling an urge to prove himself once more. Falling from grace, losing his compassionate and kind nature and adopting a competitive streak full of anger and aggression toward everyone including his son, and inexplicably developing a coffee addiction, Phil finally gets back on track and learns it is about giving the kids an opportunity to have fun. In discussing this movie, we explored Phil’s coffee addiction, where it came from and how it was sustained. There are some telltale signs of addiction, starting with Phil’s wide-eyed openness to explore and causing him to not be able to stop himself from experimenting. He would go on after one cup and another and another then buy equipment to supplement his habit, even going all the way to purchasing a large intricate coffee machine that sat on the bench of each game as if it too were a prized team player. It started to alter his mood and behaviour, causing him to be much more irritable and aggressive, causing fights and becoming more impatient with others. It was affecting every part of his life in unhealthy ways, which are key signs of what an addiction looks like. Another fun aspect of the chat was discussing what we liked about each team member. One of our favourites was the small Asian team member who was so adorably fun, called Byong Sun, or as the other coach with Phil repeatedly called him “Bing Bong”. Aside from Will Ferrell’s stellar role, he was also the other comic relief in the movie. We loved the two Italian boys that were recruited to play soccer who were phenomenal stars that ended up leading the team to the finals as they carried all the games. But by the end when Phil is in the finals with his father coaching the other team, he realizes he doesn’t care if he loses if it’s at the expense of the kid’s wellbeing and fun when playing soccer so he lets them rest, which is the moment when the audience finally realizes how much they’ve been overworked because they finally feel relief for being given a rest and now being able to relax as a consequence. Overall, we learn from these movies that fun is always the priority when it comes to playing any sports game, and then competition is secondary. ​ Overall, it was a great chat and it was lots of fun, full of hilarious moments that are sure to make us laugh out loud.

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