Critic Reviews

“The Hawk” is sentimental and juvenile — that isn’t a criticism — its pee and poo and erection jokes delivered with great vigor. There are, of course, the sort of improvised passages that have left their mark on a quarter-century of film comedy, so that now and again a scene spins into irrelevance, as if life were just a series of skits — and maybe it is — but this does tend to be funny and what we come for, after all.

Nobody loves a lopsided sports comedy like Ferrell, either. The man’s IMDB page contains more Semi-Pro airballs than Talladega Nights triumphs; his new one lands somewhere in the mid-to-upper tier of the standings. With these projects, it comes down to the supporting cast as much as the material they’re performing, and The Hawk is an all-star affair.

It could be a little tighter overall, but the most enjoyable aspects of the show feature these characters bouncing off each other in unexpected ways, anchored by the charisma that has made Ferrell one of our most enduring comedy stars.

Shannon, frankly, is the combustible engine that makes “The Hawk” tick as a comedy, constantly meeting Ferrell several levels above where he usually hangs out; meanwhile, Feimster is his match, a superb pairing for his blissfully ignorant slobhood.

The Hawk doesn't hit the giddy highs of Ferrell's best sports comedies, and it's missing the clean comic logic that made Talladega Nights so watchable, but when it's fun, it's really fun.

What redeems The Hawk, both the show and the character, is the genuine earnestness that underlies this goofball’s delusional and raunchy bravado.

In its first few episodes, The Hawk seems content to play down the same fairways that those two comedies [Stick and Happy Gilmore 2] did. .... About half-way through the 10-part series it’s as if the writers were told about all the other golf comedies out there and started looking for a point of difference. What they hit upon is a family estrangement story, and they manage to spin it out in to something you might even call affecting.

Suffice it to say, this is a comedy with the nutritional value of a jelly doughnut. .... It’s a show to be watched while drinking beer and belching out loud. Judged in that way, it’s a winner.

Why is “The Hawk” more of a likable, mildly amusing lark than a genuine laugh riot? Some of it may be that classic streaming problem where a story that could very obviously support a 105-minute feature has been strung out to well over twice that length (though at least the 10 individual episodes are punchy enough in their sub-30-minute runtimes).

Will Ferrell’s answer to Happy Gilmore is as much bogey as it is birdie, but there are some tasteless treats to be had. Would have been better as a film, though.