Listen, the formula is pretty simple by now. Give Kevin James a blue collar job — courier driver, fireman, mall cop, zookeeper — make him fall down and eat snacks and then just collect the money that pours out the other end. Which brings us to "Here Comes The Boom," a movie where he's been assigned the role of…a high school teacher. But this time it's with a twist, not only does he fall down, he fights too.
In this Happy Madison production — which feels like some kind of comedy riff on "Real Steel" and "Warrior" — James endeavors to save the extra curricular-program at his school, which is getting axed in the face of budget cuts, by turning to the most sensible option: mixed martial arts. Of course, this provides plenty of slapstick opportunity when he's not hitting on Salma Hayek (who is depressingly something of a Happy Madison regular now), but as he gets better and better, James shows off a pretty trim physique later on which is kind of startling. And it seems the movie is going for some kind of inspirational tone as well, though it seems to jar with everything else.
But either way, you know what you're getting when you buy a ticket. Frank Coraci ("The Waterboy," "Click") directs so yeah, proceed at your own risk. "Here Comes The Boom" knees your groin on October 12th. [Fandango]