2349. BASEketball (1998)

Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth

Director: David Zucker

Running Time: 103 mins

BASEketball is an American film about two friends who invent a new sport while trying to impress a girl, however the idea soon catches on and becomes a nationwide phenomenon.

In all truth, BASEketball is a silly, simple comedy, and doesn’t try to be anything more. Although its comedy isn’t quite exceptional, and never really got me laughing, it does have an often pleasantly light-hearted and braindead atmosphere that makes it an enjoyable watch at times, but definitely not one that will really impress you.

First of all, if you’re a fan of the likes of Wayne’s World, Dumb And Dumber and other 90s comedies of the same ilk, then you’ll probably have a good bit of fun with BASEketball. Its humour is generally very simplistic, while it features a small selection of very basic characters that are all effectively set-ups for some joke or other, but it does have a rather childlike glee and energy that makes some of that stupid comedy rather enjoyable from time to time.

You may recognise the two leads of the film as well, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of provocative comedy show South Park. A word of warning if you’re going into the film expecting something like South Park, you’re likely to come up disappointed, as this has very few similarities to the TV show, and isn’t even written by the pair.

Now, when it comes to the film’s story, it’s not all bad, and BASEketball actually does a surprisingly good job at changing up the formula at times. That’s not to say it’s an immensely original film, and if you’ve ever seen a sports comedy before, you know exactly what’s going on here.

However, what did impress me was how the film showed the transition of the game of BASEketball from driveway pastime to national frenzy. Rather than getting caught up in following the whirlwind of fame and fortune that come our main characters’ way as the sport starts to become popular, it skips a few years ahead once everything is already established, something that makes it all feel a little more convincing, as you’re dropped into a world where BASEketball is a sport, rather than having to wrestle with the idiocy that would come from showing its development into a national favourite.

As I said, though, the main bilk of the plot is fairly generic, something that extends to the characters in pretty much every way, with very little time being paid to make their motivations or actions convincing, rather just going through the motions that are necessary to get all the characters to the end of the movie, something that I found really boring.

Overall, I wasn’t amazed by BASEketball. Above all, it is a light-hearted and simple comedy, and does prove enjoyable at times, but its often generic story, coupled with humour that isn’t quite hilarious at any point, makes it a less-than-stellar comedy in the end, and that’s why I’m giving it a 6.9.