The elevator pitch for Balls Up looks promising: a raunchy comedy about a newly designed condom that not only covers the penis but also the testicles, all ready to be proposed for a lucrative World Cup sponsorship deal in Brazil. And for a while there, Peter Farrelly’s latest Prime Video comedy is heading in the right direction. It begins with the socially awkward Elijah (Paul Walter Hauser), who comes up with the idea of the condom, doing a practice run at a meeting in front of his CEO (Molly Shannon) and the rest of the team to see if his pitch sounds good enough. The CEO then wants Elijah to work together with Brad (Mark Wahlberg), whose salesman charm convinces her that the two will make a great team.
So, Brad and Elijah manage to secure the deal during their joint sales pitch, and the title comes from the eventual name of the condom. That night, while celebrating their success with Señor Santos (Benjamin Bratt), a key figure who agrees to the deal, they enjoy laughing and drinking. Let’s just say things turn into an embarrassing incident following Señor’s wildly drunken act in front of everyone in the club, leading to an unfavorably viral video.
If that’s not enough, Brad and Elijah’s already-messed-up situation blows out of proportion after their subsequent visit to an all-important match between Brazil and Argentina turns into a disaster. And this time, it has something to do with the scuffle against a mascot shaped like a linguiça, a.k.a the Brazilian sausage, causing such a commotion that Brazil ends up losing the match. Not surprisingly, the angry mob of Brazilian football fans blamed the two for the country’s loss.
From here, Farrelly, working from Deadpool’s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick’s screenplay, approaches the action-comedy territory, complete with Brad and Elijah being labelled as fugitives of sorts. The two are desperately trying to get out of the country, only to keep finding themselves in one trouble after another. On paper, it sounds like a whole lot of fun. I can even imagine if this comedy were done back in the day with Jim Carrey leading the role, Balls Up would probably be an instant moneymaker.
Too bad the on-screen pairing of Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser comes across as largely hit-and-miss, even though they seem quite potential earlier in the movie. It’s not like the two lack trying here, but most of their attempt to crack jokes fall flat. I hardly find myself laughing as I watch the movie. It just gets worse, particularly after the story moves on to introducing Sacha Baron Cohen as a drug kingpin, who spends most of the time speaking in a thick accent that’s meant to be funny.
The whole stretch about him keeps taunting and threatening Brad and Elijah, making me feel like I’m watching a so-called comedy that comes crumbling down into a state of despair. I figure having Sacha Baron Cohen on board might help elevate the movie, but I was dead wrong. Nothing works, and I kept wondering whether Farrelly would regain his footing. Well, except for the part revolving around the coke condom gag, both literally and figuratively.
However, the remainder of the movie continues to flatline as it goes, despite Farrelly still throwing in some occasional irreverent humor that hits the spot. At one point, there’s a gross-out moment involving a minnow fish on a private part, and what follows next is the closest thing that Farrelly reminds me of the good old days when he and his brother Bobby used to be the kings of raunchy comedies.
Balls Up feels like it’s a classic case of throwing on the wall and seeing what sticks. It’s bad, it stinks, and straight-out gross equivalent of a used condom. Overall, a missed opportunity that easily ranked as one of Peter Farrelly’s worst movies to date.
The Review
Balls Up
Once upon a time, Peter Farrelly used to score high marks in the comedy tropes. Even the mixed results like Shallow Hal and The Three Stooges have a fair share of worthwhile moments, but his latest movie goes down as the worst studio comedy so far in 2026.
Review Breakdown
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Verdict
