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Hollywood is a machine. Every week, every month and every year countless films are released into theatres and not every one is as successful as the studio heads would hope. Sometimes the publicity machine was askew, sometimes the movie targeted an odd demographic, sometimes the release was steamrolled by a much larger movie and occasionally the movie is flat out bad.
But Hollywood's loss is our gain. There is a veritable treasure trove of film out there that you may not have seen. I will be your guide to this veritable wilderness of unwatched film. It will be my job to steer you towards the action, adventure, drama and comedy that may have eluded you, and at the same time, steer you away from some truly unwatchable dreck.

Hopefully we'll stumble across some entertainment that may have slid under your radar. Wish us luck.

The Hammer (2008)

Now, I realize that not every film can be the Dark Knight. Not every film gets to make $500 million. Not every film deserves to or should make that kind of coin. The Dark Knight was an extraordinary film coupled with a brilliant portrayal of an iconic character coupled with an actual tragic death.

And yet, not every film deserves the fate that befell The Hammer, either. This is a movie that was released to a grand total of 34 theaters and had a box office grand total of $443,591. If you drive down a particularly tony street where you live, there are most likely a couple of houses that cost more (or used to cost more...) than this movie made.

To a point, I understand that. This is clearly something of a low-budget film with what can only be described as a couple of C-list stars headlining. And yet, I must have watched this film at least five times once I discovered it. It's just a likable, funny film, written with some panache and using the "stars" in its cast to the best of their abilities.

The Hammer stars Adam Corolla as boxer/handyman Jerry Ferro, Oswaldo Castillo as Oswaldo Sanchez, his sidekick from Nicaragua, Harold House Moore as Boxer Robert Brown and Heather Juergenson as lawyer and love interest Lindsay Pratt. With the exception of Corolla, (The Man Show) none of these actors have done anything major. And I mean NOTHING. Oswaldo Castilla is an actual carpenter who used to work with Corolla back when he was also a carpenter. C-list might be too nice a description for the star power in this film. Is there such a thing as a Q-list?

Strangely, it matters little to this film just how famous the actors are. Ferro is a down-on-his-luck, unmotivated carpenter scraping by on construction gigs. He has so little confidence in himself that he's unwilling to get his contractor's license as he's afraid it's just a waste of time. The film shows him trudging off to work in the morning in his beat up truck with his friend Ozzie for his racist, hate filled jerk of a boss. During their lunch of cactus (Seriously, cactus!), the boss tells them their lunch is cut short because they're behind schedule. Then he makes the grevious error of insulting and belittling Jerry to his face. "You're just a punk working with illiterates amounting to nothing!" he says with a sneer, and suddenly after 20 years, Jerry has a spark in him again.

After a ridiculously clever prank to pay back the boss, (and after their immediate firing...) Jerry heads off to the gym where he works as a boxing trainer. As he proceeds to burn off some steam, he gets noticed by a boxing coach babysitting a legitimate boxing big name. After a hilarious interlude involving toggle bolts, Jerry finds himself in the ring with the boxer as a sparring partner. It isn't the slaughter that it should be, and the coach invites Ferro to a boxing tryout for Olympic contenders. It sounds like a ridiculous premise.

It's not. It's really well written, extremely well acted and frequently funnier than anything you've seen lately. Carolla is far from being an amazing actor, but he's humorous and charming. Considering that he also wrote the film (and produced, and probably catered...), he is a natural fit for his role. Just about every actor in this film is a natural fit. Carolla plays off all of them brilliantly.

The script and story flow naturally, with few lulls. There are a number of throwaway scenes that are largely unnecessary, but seeing as how nearly all of them are hilarious, I'm willing to forgive that. Particularly brilliant are a couple of sequences involving Corolla skipping (yes, skipping) and a particularly funny scene involving a traffic ticket.

This movie grows on you in a good way. It has a good heart and a happy ending. Ferro starts out as an amusing ass and ends up as an honest to goodness better person... while still being damned amusing.

The Hammer runs 88 minutes. The only thing wrong with that is that it feels too short. Fire this one up if you find it. It's definitely worth watching.