Being the Troma fan that I am, it may be surprising that I had not seen any of the pre-Toxic Avenger sexy comedies that Troma produced until October 2004. Squeeze Play! is the first of said comedies and the first film Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced that bears the Troma Team name. After initially being a failure, it became a surprise hit and allowed Troma to buy their infamous Hell's Kitchen headquarters.

The film follows a small New Jersey town's obsession with the local softball games. After winning the championship, the team captain of the Beavers, Wes, promises his girlfriend Samantha that he will stop playing the game. However, once it becomes obvious that he does not intend to follow-through, Samantha and the other women that are fed up with the male dominance of the game join forces. They talk the team into letting a talented young girl named Mary-Lou try out for the team. But after the try-out ends unfairly, they band together to start an all-female team, The Beaverettes, to get their revenge on the opposite sex and teach them a lesson.

It's been well documented that the making of the film was marred by the cast and crew's inability to understand the comedy, so I was a bit worried, thinking the film would be a mess. Though it's fairly obvious that Squeeze Play! had it's troubles and the humor is extremely uneven, it's still a very entertaining film. The majority of the cast is very good, with the exception of the ones who didn't seem to get the humor.

Stylisticly, the film is much different from the other works of Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz. The over-the-top nature of their films had not fully developed (and wouldn't until the end of the sexy-comedy run) and because of that, some of the gags seem much too forced. There's some poor editing to be found and plenty of shots that make you wonder what Lloyd was thinking. I know I was left wondering, "Was it really necessary to show someone singing "Squeeze Play!" along with the soundtrack music that many times?"

However, one trademark of the Troma productions is certainly right on key: underlying social messages. Squeeze Play! has a very strong message regarding the women's liberation movement. The Beaverettes aren't out to win the game, they just want to be a part of it after setting on the sidelines for so many years. Much like women in American society finally being fed up with the burden that the domaneering male population put upon them.

Overall, Squeeze Play! isn't a highlight of Troma's in-house productions, though it doesn't try to be anything more than what it is: a fun softball comedy-romp. But like any in-house Troma film, you can't have something like that without a message reflecting the state of society at the time. Squeeze Play! is recommended to Troma fans, just for it's historical value.

Rating: 3 out of 5