Church Ball


Church Ball is a 2006 sports comedy film written and directed by Kurt Hale. It follows an underdog The [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Latter-day Saint] church basketball team and their attempts to make it to the championship in the league's last season. The film stars Andrew Wilson, Fred Willard, Clint Howard, and Gary Coleman.

Plot

A local Utah LDS Church holds the record as having the worst basketball team in the church ball league. The team has failed to make it into the church tournament in the past 20 years. Due to rumors of this being the last year of the league, former team coach, and now Bishop Linderman has called Dennis Buckstead to coach a team made of clumsy misfits to the championship.
Church expectations of brotherly love, sportsmanship, and fellowship fall prey to competitive fierceness in the effort to win, while Dennis works to bring unity and cooperation.

Cast

Development and casting

The original script for the film was written years beforehand by Kurt Hale, Paul Eagleston, and Stephen Rose. Halestorm Entertainment began production of the film in 2005. Gary Coleman was cast as Charles Higgins. Andrew Wilson, Clint Howard, and Fred Willard were later cast as Dennis Buckstead, Gene Jensen, and Bishop Linderman, respectively.

Filming

Filming took place primarily in Orem and Provo, Utah in 2005. The former Douglas Ward meetinghouse at 721 S 1200 E in Salt Lake City and the former Wallsburg meetinghouse in Wallsburg were both used for filming.
During filming, Gary Coleman met his now wife, Shannon Price, on set. Price was an extra in the film.

Release

Theatrical

Church Ball was released in theaters on March 17, 2006, by Halestorm Entertainment.

Home media

On September 26, 2006, Church Ball was released on DVD by Stone Five Studios.

Reception

Box office

Church Ball opened on March 17, 2006, with $144,376. The film ended grossing $464,991 against a $1,000,000 budget.

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and reported a 17 percent approval rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 4.3 out of 10. It received a 39% approval rating from audiences.
Jeff Vice of the Deseret News wrote in his review: "t's hard to tell whether the jokes in "Church Ball" are any funnier than those in earlier HaleStorm movie productions — The Singles Ward, The R.M. and The Home Teachers." William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote in his review: "Clearly, Mormon movies are not what they used to be. But Church Ball seems to be a complete break with the genre's missionary past. Ted Fry of the Seattle Times wrote in his review: "I have no idea whether Fred Willard is a Mormon, but thanks to his signature glib charm he plays one effortlessly as coach of an inept basketball team in Church Ball, a carefree, underdog sports comedy."

Actor's responses

Gary Coleman described his dissatisfaction with the film's quality. Although he stated he enjoyed the process of making the film, he remarked that watching the production process was like "giving monkeys cameras and lights." Despite this, the project introduced Coleman to Utah, and he moved to Santaquin soon after filming. He later commented that he was thankful to Kurt hale for introducing him to the state.
Clint Howard praised Halestorm Entertainment for producing family-friendly entertainment.