Movie Title: BASEketball
Writer: David Zucker, Robert LoCash, Jeff Wright, Lewis Friedman
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny McCarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine, Dian Bachar
Review: When slacker friends Joe Cooper (Trey Parker) and Doug Remer (Matt Stone) are challenged to a pickup basketball game against some jocks, they counter by proposing to play a game they learned called "BASEketball," which combines basketball and baseball. In reality, they are improvising all of the rules, but somehow the sport becomes a hit. A promoter (Ernest Borgnine) forms a popular league, but after his death a rival owner (Robert Vaughn) wants to change the rules to increase profits. BASEketball is a mindless, lowbrow comedy. The humor falls short in comparison to Matt Stone and Trey Parker's TV show, South Park. One of the great things about South Park is that despite the presence of vulgar and borderline offensive comedy, there is a layer of cleverness and ingenuity that is oftentimes brilliant. This movie had all of the offensiveness and vulgarity, but lacked the brilliance that make it tolerable. While there are some very laugh out loud moments, much of the slapstick humor was dumb. Viewers unfamiliar with Stone and Parker will certainly lack appreciation for this film. It's not completely terrible, but it's certainly not great. Give it a watch and decide for yourself!
Fun Fact: Trey Parker and Matt Stone agreed to do this film under the assumption by the time filming began, South Park (1997) would have already been canceled. It wasn't, and having been committed to both projects, had to attend principal photography for this project during the day and produce South Park during the night, leaving very little time for any sleep. On September 12, 2019, South Park was renewed up to the 26th season, and as of April 2021 has aired over 300 episodes and counting.