4. “Here Comes the Boom” (2012)
Lighthearted and surprisingly poignant, “Here Comes the Boom” stars longtime MMA supporter Kevin James as Scott Voss, a biology teacher who moonlights as a mixed martial artist in order to raise money to save the music program and its instructor (Henry Winkler) at his high school. Voss unwittingly rallies the school through his efforts and draws the affection of the school nurse (Salma Hayek) who would otherwise be above his pay grade. A number of prominent mixed martial arts personalities have significant roles, including Bas Rutten and Mark DellaGrotte. Jason Miller, Mark Munoz, Bruce Buffer, Krzysztof Soszynski, Satoshi Ishii, Joe Rogan, Herb Dean, Mike Goldberg, Jacob “Stitch” Duran, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva also make appearances. Released on Oct. 12, 2012, “Here Comes the Boom” lives and dies with James. As ComingSoon.net critic Joshua Starnes wrote, “It will help a lot if you like Kevin James because you’re going to be spending the entire film with him, but he’s a likeable guy and ‘Here Comes the Boom’ puts its best assets to work and only occasionally falls victim to its worst instincts. You probably won’t cry but you will laugh, and that will do.”
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