Comedic actor Kevin James (“Paul Blart: Mall Cop”, “Grown Ups”) stars in this sports/comedy vehicle with the odd title “Here Comes The Boom”. It reminded me a lot of “Nacho Libre” (which I liked) but unlike that films didn’t seize enough opportunities to make it funny enough to recommend.

Biology teacher Scott Voss (James) finds out that due to cuts the music teacher Marty Streb (Henry Winkler “The Waterboy”) will lose his job. To ensure that doesn’t happen, Scott decides to help raise the money needed. In a bid to get the money Scott enters the dangerously violent world of cage fighting. Can he get the money before the deadline?

I don’t find Kevin James funny. Sure he tries but the scripts are always written around the fact he’s fat as the central joke and while it’s funny at first after several minutes it becomes tedious. Henry Winkler gives a decent performance as he tries really hard but it’s a shame he’s acting in a lacklustre comedy and not something more sensible. Some of the other characters provide a few mild laughs but sadly there aren’t enough good jokes generated by the array of strange personalities that blunder onto the screen.

The fight scenes aren’t funny at all; they don’t even try to be. It’s almost like you’re watching a real cage fight. I saw countless ways they could have these scenes enjoyable (including a moment that could have parodied “Rocky”). If you want to see a fat guy wander around doing mildly funny stuff and then being beaten brutally in a cage then “Here Comes The Boom” might suit your needs but most people are going to see this is a shabby comedy that could have been quite amusing, however it allows its script to centre on the fact the protagonist is a little chubby and the majority of the jokes just aren’t that funny.