Ladybugs (film)

North American theatrical release poster
Ladybugs
Directed by	Sidney J. Furie
Produced by	Andre Morgan Albert S. Ruddy
Written by	Curtis Burch
Starring	Rodney Dangerfield Jackee Jonathan Brandis Ilene Graff Vinessa Shaw
Music by	Richard Gibbs
Cinematography by	Dan Burstall
Editor(s)	Timothy Board John W. Wheeler
Studio(s)	Ladybugs Productions
Distributor	Paramount Pictures (North America) Morgan Creek International (International; through Warner Bros.)
Release date(s)	March 27, 1992
Running time	90 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Gross revenue	$14.8 million (US)

Ladybugs is a 1992 American sports-comedy film starring Rodney Dangerfield and directed by Sidney J. Furie. Dangerfield plays a Denver businessman who takes over a girls soccer team that the company he works for sponsors. The film also stars Jackée Harry as his assistant coach, Ilene Graff as his girlfriend, Jonathan Brandis as his girlfriend's son, and Vinessa Shaw as his boss' daughter.

Then Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has a cameo, as do Blake Clark and longtime Dangerfield friend Chuck McCann.

Plot

Chester Lee (Rodney Dangerfield) is desperate for a promotion at work and some respect from his boss. To impress his boss, he claims to have been a good soccer player in his youth and is badgered into coaching a girls' team called the Ladybugs. Dragging his assistant Julie (Jackée Harry) along as assistant coach, Chester figures the gig easy as the Ladybugs, sponsored by his company, are a dynasty, having dominated previous seasons. If he can get this team to a championship, he will get the promotion. Unfortunately, only one player has returned for the new season. The new team, which includes the boss' daughter, Kimberly (Vinessa Shaw), are clueless, make a dreadful start to the season and the boss is less than impressed.

In his personal life, Chester is engaged to Bess (Ilene Graff), who has a son, Matthew (Jonathan Brandis), from a previous marriage. Matthew just happens to be a great athlete, but poor grades get him kicked off the soccer team. Chester invites Matthew to watch the Ladybugs practice and to get some tips. Matthew has a crush on Kimberly from school and it is partly due to this that Chester persuades him to dress like a girl and play for the team under the name Martha. With only Chester, Matthew and Julie knowing the secret of Martha's identity, the team wins the rest of its games to get to the championship game. Kimberly makes friends with Martha, not knowing "she" is in fact Matthew.

Just before the championship game, Bess finds out that Matthew has been dressing as a girl to play. She becomes angry with Chester, making him drop Matthew from the team. Kimberly, who has not been playing well, is also dropped on the request of Chester's boss.

The Ladybugs go down 3-0 in the first half. At halftime, Matthew reveals to Kimberly and the rest of the team that he is Martha. His honesty fires the team up and with Chester's encouragement, Kimberly scores the winning goal on a penalty kick. As the Ladybugs win the championship, Chester gets his promotion. Bess and Chester get married while Matthew and Kimberly begin dating. Chester is now managing the company's girls softball team, where the entire team are boys dressed as girls. Chester says to the audience "I finally got some respect" after his boss tells him that he's on top of the world when getting the job he wanted and the girl he wanted.

Cast

• Rodney Dangerfield as Coach Chester Lee
• Jackée Harry as Julie Benson
• Jonathan Brandis as Matthew/Martha
• Ilene Graff as Bess
• Vinessa Shaw as Kimberly Mullen
• Tom Parks as Dave Mullen
• Randall May as Championship Soccer trainer
• Jeannetta Arnette as Glynnis Mullen
• Crystal Cooke as Nancy Larimer (as LaCrystal Cooke)
• Jennifer Frances Lee as Carmelita Chu
• Vanessa Monique Rossel as Tina Velez
• Johna Stewart-Bowden as Sally Anne Welfelt (as Johna Stewart)
• Jandi Swanson as Penny Pester
• Nancy Parsons as Coach Annie
• Blake Clark as Coach Bull
• Tommy Lasorda as Coach Cannoli

Production

Shooting took place from July through September 1991 in and around Denver, Colorado.

Release

Paramount struggled with how to market the film and considered changing the title, as it clashed with Dangerfield's image as a profane comic. The film grossed almost US$15 million in the US and Canada, while Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek International obtained the foreign distribution rights.

Reception

Ladybugs was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes holds an approval rating of 12% with an average rating of 3.69/10, based on 17 reviews. Audiences however polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film flip-flops on its themes and "has the stale, slick, worked-over look of standard studio product". Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "Even when the material is feeble, as it is here, Mr. Dangerfield can sometimes be funny."

External links

• Ladybugs at the Internet Movie Database
• Ladybugs at AllMovie
• Ladybugs at the TCM Movie Database
• Ladybugs at Box Office Mojo
• Ladybugs at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ladybugs at the Sports Movie Guide

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