Here Comes The Boom

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Kevin James and the Happy Madison (Adam Sandler) production team take a humorous and more broadly mainstream stab at Warrior, except they bypass all of the useless drama about brothers battling in the finale. Here Comes the Boom sets its sights, instead, on a burned-out former teacher of the year (James) who opens his big mouth in support of a colleague (Henry Winkler) on the chopping block and attempts to raise money by stepping into the MMA octagon for $10,000 a pop. You could say that it beats a bake sale, but what it truly beats up is any degree of common sense that audiences bring into the theater. To be fair, though, James makes us want to believe that he could deliver a knockout and he does so without the over-the-top slapsticky hijinks we normally get from those Sandler-focused atrocities. Now in theaters. (PG) Grade: C+