Exclusive Interview: Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant from ‘Balls of Fury’

Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 28, 2007

I stood outside of a boardroom waiting to speak with the writer and director of Balls of Fury, and was told that a surprise was waiting inside for me. Other than the fact that Reno 911’s Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) and Deputy Travis Junior (Ben Garant) were sitting in the room waiting for me, I really couldn’t think of any other upside. But without warning, the man…the legend, James Hong walked through the door. I was introduced to him, and we stood toe to toe. He looked me in the eye, did a little shimmy and was on his way. Lennon and Garant laughed hysterically and I knew that I had just been a part of one of “those moments.”

Sitting with these two guys was just as good of a treat as it was to sit with the star of their film, Dan Fogler. They were just like Dan had described, totally hilarious and finishing each other’s thoughts and sentences. There were a few questions that I had to ask Thomas and Ben, but those came after we laughed and talked about Reno 911 for a while. With trailers for Balls of Fury being on the internet for quite some time, i wanted to know what Ben and Thomas thought fans could expect from the movie that they already grasp from the trailer.

Ben immediately said “I don’t think you can tell that is is really, a very sincere Kung-Fu movie…just without Kung-Fu. It’s funny, I mean it’s us, so it’s full of ya know…people getting hit in the nuts and falling down, and stuff that we love.” Thomas quickly added, “Like pantie flashes of Maggie Q, which there are like 6 or 7…not to brag. There is no scene in the film which you don’t see her underpants.” Ben added, “So if you are into that, which I understand some guys are.” Thomas warned though, “If you are not into that, go see a doctor.” All I have to say is that I’m totally into Maggie Q pantie flashes, so where can I sign up?

So now that we have established that Balls of Fury is a Kung-Fu type movie, without Kung-Fu, but with Maggie Q pantie flashes, the guys went on further to talk about the Kung-Fu-ness of the film. Thomas said, “By the way, it’s a Kung-Fu movie without Kung-Fu…but there is still some Kung-Fu in it. You can’t do a movie without Kung-Fu in it, can you? No really great movie has ever been made without some Kung-Fu in it.” Ben remembered that “They did cut the Kung-Fu out of Rear Window“, and Thomas added, “They did, there was that whole other apartment underneath the guy with the piano.” Ultimately, after some soul searching, Ben confessed, “It’s still thirty percent Kung-Fu.”

I was very curious to find out the origins of the film, if it was birthed directly from a late night Kung-Fu marathon or just a bad hangover. Thomas said that their intentions were to “Take subject matter that seems sort of silly, and handle it in a deadly serious way…where people settle things with their ping pong skills.” This sounds strangely familiar, especially when Ben added “Like…Over The Top, which created that weird world where people illegally arm wrestled for money. That world of those weird 80’s movies where something so weird was made cool…Like Cocktail. As if people are competitive cocktail shakers.” Thomas quoted the film, and said that James Hong’s line pretty much sums up the film. “Welcome to the underground league of ping-pong, where fortunes are won and lost. I’m exaggerating of course, but you get my point. People bet on ping-pong here.”

When compared to Over The Top, the greatest arm wrestling movie ever made, I asked the guys if Balls of Fury would then be the greatest table tennis movie ever made. Both of the guys looked at me, and with all seriousness said, “Yes.”

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