The Hammer - March 2008

The Hammer - March 2008

Jerry Ferro’s 40th birthday has brought his life into sharp relief and it’s not a pretty picture. A once-promising amateur boxer — who quit so he wouldn’t risk his perfect record of underachievement — Jerry has been knocking around from one construction job to another and spinning his wheels in an unsatisfying relationship, all the while with an eye toward eventually getting his act together. His last connection to the fight game is the evening boxing class he teaches to middle-aged, middle class, middle management types at a gym in Pasadena, where he also works as a handyman. When venerable boxing coach Eddie Bell asks Jerry if he’d like to spar a couple of rounds with Malice Blake, an up-and-coming pro, Jerry reluctantly steps into the ring. Despite the beating Jerry otherwise receives, a one-punch knockdown of Blake convinces Jerry that it’s time to make his return to competitive boxing. Thus ends a 20-year layoff and begins a hilarious fish-out-water quest for Olympic gold.

Director: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Screenwriter: Kevin Hench
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: March 21, 2008
Starring:

• Adam Carolla as Jerry Ferro
• Oswaldo Castillo as Oswaldo Sanchez
• Harold House Moore as Robert Brown
• Jonathan Hernandez as Victor Padilla
• Heather Juergensen as Lindsay Pratt
• Paul Alayo as Boxer Opponent
• Rian Bishop as Nationals Trainer

The Hammer is a tale of challenging yourself, of forcibly birthing dreams with determination, humor and wily creativity, regardless of what the world says is possible. It’s a unique sports movie with a big beating heart. It also aptly illustrates what boxing fans have long known: the fight game is largely a metaphor for human survival in a brutal world that could care less about our unique yearnings and individual dreams. Finally the battle resides in the heart, as we all strive to conquer fear, laziness, and lack of courage.

The story was Adam’s brainchild while the script was crafted by consummate wordsmith Kevin Hench, a kindred spirit to Adam who shares his love of a good rant. This is my second movie with Heather Juergensen, co-star and co-writer of Kissing Jessica Stein, as well as Adam’s romantic interest in The Hammer, and third movie with my sister and long time producer, Eden Wurmfeld. Without them, I never would have had the pleasure of telling this story – or offering it to you.