A 40-year-old carpenter takes up boxing and tries to qualify for the Olympics in the middle weight comedy “The Ham mer.”
Adam Carolla of “The Man Show” (and “Dancing With the Stars”) plays the carpenter whose pranks lose him his girlfriend and get him fired from his latest job. He settles for personal training at a gym where he flirts up a petite lawyer (Heather Juergensen of “Kissing Jessica Stein”).
A local boxing maven takes notice of his sparring, saying he’s got a mean left hook but he’ll never amount to much because he’s one of those “95 percent guys” who never quite gives it all he’s got.
Wrong, says Carolla: “I’m a 75 percenter who’s giving you an extra 20.”
The script depends heavily on familiar stand-up comedy bits, but it’s full of sharp wisecracks and slacker charm. Carolla, a one-time Golden Gloves boxer, is chill bordering on frozen; in future film roles, he might try moving his facial muscles around a little to form various expressions.
Running time: 90 minutes. Rated R (profanity). At the Empire, 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.