Ladybugs

Directed by Sidney J. Furie, Ladybugs follows Rodney Dangerfield’s Chester Lee as he’s cajoled into coaching his company’s all-girls soccer team – with Chester’s desire to please his boss eventually prompting him to dress his girlfriend’s son (Jonathan Brandis’ Matthew) in drag and install him on the losing team. It’s a familiar premise that’s employed to basically watchable yet entirely forgettable effect by Sidney J. Furie, as Ladybugs, which generally unfolds exactly as one might’ve anticipated, doesn’t contain much in the way of compelling attributes aside from Dangerfield’s mere presence – with the actor delivering his various one-liners with precisely the sort of over-the-top aplomb with which he was associated. And although the various other performers are affable enough – Jackée, cast as Chester’s sassy assistant, has a handful of fun asides and moments, to be sure – Ladybugs progresses through its paint-by-numbers narrative all the way up to to its expectedly triumphant finale. The end result is an endeavor that perhaps lands on the lower rungs of Dangerfield’s spotty cinematic career, although, to be fair, Ladybugs does work as a perfectly competent entry within the ragtag sports genre.

** out of ****