Division III: Football's Finest (2011)

Studio: Image

Theatrical Release: October 14, 2011

Blu Ray Release: January 17, 2012

R

Review by Raymond Velez

They say never to judge a movie by its DVD case. But when I saw the cover to Division III Football’s Finest, I knew I was in for a fun night of laughs.  Andy Dick is so good in this comedy, that you wonder why his career didn’t reach higher heights.  He never really starred in a movie that could display his great talents.  He’s always showed us his comedic genius from the supporting standpoint.  This film finally utilizes his talent.

The story is your basic cliché.  The Pullham University Bluecocks are a terrible team. Even for division III football. They need at least a winning season this year or the “Cocks” are history. That’s when an old coach like Rick Vice (Andy Dick) comes in handy. He had some experience coaching peewee football and should be more than qualified to coach this miserable team. When I say Andy Dick is great in this, boy do I mean it? He’s energetic in every scene and literally had me laughing out loud. I don’t know what was written and what was adlibbed but it all works out perfectly in each scene.  Coach Vice is not only a verbally abusive coach, but a physically abusive one as well. He drops f-bombs and smacks players with steel chairs.

His tough love doesn’t make them a championship team but they do start to improve. Coach Vice even finds time to encourage his second-string quarterback, Mitch DePrima. Mitch is a slacker who finds himself wasting his talent in his senior year. Mitch lacks motivation to compete and to work hard at anything. When Coach Vice gives Mitch a shot to see what he’s made of Mitch rises to the occasion and still manages to piss off Vice. In any other sports movie there would be an underlining reason for it. But I’m more than sure Coach Vice gets pissed at him for no reason.

Watching this film feels so familiar. But the characters are funny and entertaining that you really don’t care. Sure we know Coach Vice will coach the team to success (success for their standards at least). And sure we know that Coach Vice will develop some type of bond with all his players. Look out for the hilarious speech by Coach Vice the night of the last game. And there’s a hilarious scene where Andy Dick gives at least four different players the game ball.

The direction isn’t bad but you can tell that the film is made under a low budget with lower experience than what Dick is used to.  And for some reason, the numerous ex-cast members from Mad TV sprinkled here and there gave me the impression it was done more for budget reasons as opposed to talent approach. Doesn’t matter here because every cameo is funny and no actor fails at his or her job in this one.

I honestly feel that this film could have done well with a wider release despite its predictable plot and lack of stars. But that could be the biased Andy Dick fan in me. He’s so good he carries the entire film.

The quality of the picture is solid. The film doesn’t have a Hollywood look by any means. But the picture is still crisp and clear. Even vibrant in some scenes.  The extras aren’t too shabby. You get some outtakes, some deleted scenes and an audio commentary with both Andy Dick and and director Marshall Cook. Something tells me a theatrical trailer would have made me pee my pants . If you have the means, pick this movie up and GET SOME.