(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. — This movie, billed as “a huge comedy with tiny balls,” recently hit the theaters with the ferocity of a slightly annoyed squirrel. “Balls of Fury,” features Dan Fogler as Randy Daytona, a former table tennis prodigy, and Christopher Walken as Master Feng, an eccentric Triad boss. While “Balls of Fury” offers the viewer several chuckles, the movie’s constant reliance on the same slap-stick and cheap one-liners can turn laughs into yawns.

The beginning of the movie chronicles Daytona’s childhood dominance of ping-pong and his rapid fall from glory following the disastrous 1988 Olympics. 19 years later, Daytona has been forced to perform in a humiliating restaurant show just to get by. After losing this job, Daytona is recruited by FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez, played by comedian George Lopez, to assist in capturing Master Feng. Agent Rodriguez wants Daytona to win enough ping-pong competitions to receive an invitation to Feng’s infamous underground tournament.

Unfortunately, it’s been 19 years since Daytona played competitively, and he loses his first match at a local tournament. This leads to his training under the blind Master Wong, played by James Hong. Master Wong’s niece, Maggie Wong, played by the beautiful Maggie Q, also helps train Daytona. The completion of Daytona’s training and the development of his relationship with Maggie occur in a matter of minutes without even a montage to help bridge the gap. Whether this was done intentionally for comedic effect or was simply a glaring oversight is unclear.

Writer Thomas Lennon (”Reno 911’s” Lt. Dangle) also stars as Daytona’s nemesis, the German ping-pong champion Karl Wolfschtagg. Lennon’s flamboyant performance steals the scene every time he appears.

One of the best aspects of “Balls of Fury” had nothing to do with comedy. During Feng’s championship tournament, the camera work was very impressive. Matrix style camera revolutions made a relatively boring sport look exciting for a few seconds.

But the comedic aspect of “Balls of Fury” could have used some more work. Imagine two immature high school guys playing ping-pong, snickering every time one of them utters a phrase like, “Dude, you should be more gentle with the balls.” Take 90 minutes of that humor, add a barely passable plot, lots of stereotypes to replace character development, Christopher Walken, and a hot chick and you have “Balls of Fury.”