There is no shortage of relatively recent films that could never get made today. You can read all about it by clicking on one of many dumb listicles on the internet, which vary in terms of how bad they want you to feel for still (or ever) liking "problematic" relics of the pre-woke era.
Some of these films are beloved comedy classics such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Tropic Thunder, while others are forgettable flops such as Juwanna Mann and Sorority Boys.
Lady Ballers belongs on a different (and much shorter) listicle: "problematic" films that could have been made in the mid-1990s but actually got made in 2023. Not that any Hollywood producers were lining up to make this film. Lady Ballers is the first of its kind. The feature-length comedy was produced by the folks at the Daily Wire and is available now on the DailyWire+ streaming service.
Though its plot is not dissimilar to that of Juwanna Mann—which came out in 2002 and starred Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, and Lil' Kim—Lady Ballers will almost certainly be seen and enjoyed by many more Americans at a time when the brightest minds in Hollywood are either struggling to make money at the box office or rotting in prison on serial rape charges.
Lady Ballers stars Daily Wire cofounder Jeremy Boreing (who also produced and directed the film) as Rob, a boys basketball coach and divorced dad besieged by wokeness. "I stayed the same and the world changed," he says after his eight-year-old daughter scolds him for misgendering the "girl" who showed "her" penis in class.
One thing leads to another—a chance encounter with a former basketball star at drag queen brunch, followed by another chance encounter with a conniving journalist intent on boosting her profile by reporting on the "brave and beautiful woman" who just dominated a local track and field competition—and Coach Rob decides to get the high school state championship team back together for an upcoming women's basketball tournament.
Hilarity ensues, for the most part. Though probably not destined to become a comedy classic, Lady Ballers is a welcome alternative to any of the Hollywood-approved "comedy" offerings of late. Its mere existence is a middle finger to the cultural overlords who deign to decide what topics we're allowed to joke about. Consider as evidence the plethora of reviews trashing the entire film based on the trailer, many of them written by outlets who praised the dreadful "comedy" of Hannah Gadsby. (Don't even bother looking her up.)
Give Lady Ballers a watch. It will probably make you laugh. It will definitely annoy hysterical liberals who want everyone to be miserable all the time. It may even give Hollywood something to think about before writing another billion-dollar check for another CGI abomination about a queer superhero who uses empathy and understanding to persuade the supervillain to shut down his bigotry factory or whatever the hell they're putting out in theaters these days.
