Docucomedy or mockumentary?
Either way, Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story is an amusing look at the people who play paintball — and Rob Corddry is at the center of it all as the movie’s comeback kid. The film starts a weeklong run at Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre.
Corddry, 35, said filming Blackballed was a nice change of pace, mostly because it was a lot less work than filing his fake news dispatches for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Corddry and the film’s cast, which included several members from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre plus stand-up DJ Hazard, improvised all of the dialogue.
"I knew I had my work cut out for me," Hazard said. "This is what they do, even between takes. You think they’re offering you a sandwich, and then 30 seconds later, they’re on some tangent. They’re two astronauts getting ready to land on Mars!"
Does that describe paintball? "It’s sort of this cross between alternative and X sports and boys with guns playing war," Corddry said. "It’s like skateboarding meets Civil War re-enactment." It’s nothing like actual war. "You don’t even hold a gun the same way. There’s no Pulp Fiction aspect to it."
Ultimately, Blackballed is a redemption story. How does it compare with other comeback sports movies? "Are there other redemption stories? I thought we were the first one. Can you name one?" Corddry asked me.
How about Rocky 6? "Do you mean the upcoming one? Or the one with the robot?" Corddry countered.
Just then, business calls. "I just made my intern get dry cleaning. My ego has just reached a new level. Print that he did it humility," Corddry said. That might not be the case soon. "I will say that I just shot a pilot with Lenny Clarke. If that pilot goes, I will soon be having Lenny Clarke get my dry cleaning."