BALLS UP (AMAZON PRIME) (2026)

SYNOPSIS: Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser make quite the pair in Balls Up. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

The Farrelly Brothers are better known for their brand of offensive comedies, although Peter Farrelly once directed the Oscar-winning Green Book. It’s a pity that since then, he hasn’t made a decent movie and has gone back to directing toilet-humour fare like Ricky Stanicky and now this mess, Balls Up.

Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser play Brad and Elijah, co-workers at the Regal Blue Condom Company. Elijah has invented a “revolutionary” condom that covers both the penis and testicles, while Brad is chosen to sell it. In hopes of making it the official condom of the 2025 World Cup, the two travel to Brazil to meet a top official, Santos (Benjamin Bratt), who offers them tickets to the final between Brazil and Argentina. Things quickly go south when the duo messes up the match and end up becoming instant enemies of Brazil.

The premise of foes turning into buddies isn’t anything new, and Balls Up does nothing fresh with it. Brad and Elijah spend the entire film throwing out gags that are neither funny nor memorable. Despite being written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool, Zombieland), the script feels like a collection of discarded, hand-me-down material, filled with random quarrels and forced banter. Nothing really sticks, and the longer it goes on, the more random it becomes.

There is one memorable gross-out moment involving a fish invading a urethra, but beyond that, the film offers a series of confusing, rambling gags that feel like they exist just to pad the runtime. These include a sex-obsessed eco-terrorist, an alligator, and the duo randomly belting out “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Sacha Baron Cohen also shows up as a drug lord with an unfunny accent. It makes you wonder what happened to the man who convinced the world there was a real Borat and Brüno.

Perhaps it’s the casting. Wahlberg and Hauser don’t really fit into this kind of comedy. You can’t help but think actors like Ben Stiller, Jack Black or Will Ferrell might have been better suited. Or worse, maybe Peter Farrelly has simply lost his touch when it comes to comedy.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee