“Lady Ballers” may never win an Oscar, but the Daily Wire comedy about men seeking to dominate women’s sports by pretending to be female was a hit with viewers in its first weekend of release.
The politically incorrect feature boasted a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with more than 2,500 ratings after debuting Friday exclusively on DailyWire+, the conservative media outlet’s streaming service.
“Thanks to everyone for making ‘Lady Ballers’ the biggest launch for Daily Wire EVER!” Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro wrote on X. “We launched DW to make the content nobody else had the balls to make. ‘Lady Ballers’ hits that target absolutely dead center.”
There was no averaged critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes because the film received only two reviews, which offered decidedly different opinions.
Hollywood in Toto critic Christian Toto, who contributes entertainment stories to the Daily Wire, praised the movie’s “smart gags” and “impeccable timing.”
“Rock-ribbed progressives won’t appreciate ‘Lady Ballers,’ nor will they find satirical targets appropriate,” he said in his review. “It’s still the most subversive comedy in ages, a smart bomb that obliterates its intended target.”
Not impressed was Movie Nation reviewer Roger Moore, who ripped the release as “transphobic” and a “groaning 110 minutes of agenda in search of a laugh.”
“’Lady Ballers’ has enough polish to the production values to pass streaming movie muster,” Mr. Moore said. “It looks like a movie (Did Tennessee contribute incentive money to film it there?). But this dumb-catering-to-the-intolerant waddle is one long reminder of that famous quote ‘Dying is easy, comedy is hard.’”
The stellar audience score came despite pushback by LGBTQ advocates not happy with the film’s jab at male-to-female transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.
Mr. Toto said there were efforts to “review bomb” the movie by posting negative comments before the film’s debut, but that Rotten Tomatoes rejected them.
So far “Lady Ballers” is only available to subscribers of DailyWire+, meaning that most of those watching the film and posting reviews were presumably already partial to the outlet’s conservative content and personalities, who make up the movie’s cast.
Some leftists cite this against #LadyBallers — “Ha - the critics won’t even review it!” Are they so enamored with power that corporate media seems a source of wisdom to them? They call themselves the Resistance, but the only thing they resist are the people. https://t.co/3FUHiajwR0
— Andrew Klavan (@andrewklavan) December 3, 2023
Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing stars as Rob, a has-been high-school basketball coach who convinces his former players to identify as female to compete for the women’s basketball championship in the Global Games.
The players include the hosts of the Daily Wire’s “Crain & Co.,” Jake Crain, Blain Crain and David Cone, as well as comedian Tyler Fischer and newcomer Daniel Considine.
Other Daily Wire pundits-turned-actors include Matt Walsh, who plays against type as a laid-back hippie dating Rob’s estranged wife.
Brett Cooper and Michael Knowles do their part as television journalists forced to undergo sensitivity training.
There are also cameos by Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican; Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon; OutKick founder Clay Travis; and All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who famously tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships.
The $7 million film, the outlet’s first feature-length comedy, wrapped up in July despite protesters who rallied on location in Nashville, “bullying and harassing cast and crew as they arrived on set,” according to Daily Wire.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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