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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Joel Moore, Alan Tudyk, Chris Williams, Missi Pyle
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Reviewed by Chris Ching

"We are SOOO Money!"

Dodgeball! Beloved by the inner sadist within us all. Dodgeball! Feared by "crap at sports" Physical Education students in thousands of school districts nationwide. No sport gives one the "right" to peg an opponent with such merciless abandon. Ooooh! I gotcha, right in the balls! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Yes!!!

Oops... sorry about that. Grade School Nostalgia overtook me for a second.

Dodgeball the movie is a a trifle at best, but for a completely brainless good time at the movies, it's pure Oscar gold. 'Ball is the latest skirmish in the never ending movie war of The Snobs Vs. the Slobs; previous battles were waged in Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, and (most recently) Old School. As Peter La Fleur, Vince Vaughn manages Average Joe's, a run down, financially f**ked gym frequented by the salt of the earth. Next door is the ultra modern fitness palace Globo Land whose flamboyant owner White Goodman (Ben Stiller) is scheming to do away with his unsightly neighbor and make way for his gym's new parking structure. With Goodman going in for the kill, Peter and his cast of misfits have to come up with $50,000 or lose Average Joe's forever. Happening upon the "idea" to get the cash by winning a national Dodgeball championship, the boys go into training with Dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan (played by the inimitable Rip Torn). The wheelchair bound coot drills them in the 5 Ds : Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and...er...Dodge. So do our lovable band of losers have a chance when they go up against Goodman's hulkisized D-Ball team?

"COOOOBRAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Oh pulleeeeze.

About the only unpredictable thing in this movie is the surprise appearance by Curtis Armstrong - "Booger" from Revenge of the Nerds - who I haven't seen since the mid nineties. Frankly, a person holding a ticket to see Dodgeball isn't interested with intricate plot and character development. They want to see Dodgeball violence and comedy of which the movie dishes out plenty. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber thankfully doesn't doesn't go for the easiest jokes, and the script has plenty of wit to spare. And when Dodgeball violence and comedy come together with the many painful ball shots to the balls, there isn't a person in the theatre who isn't laughing hysterically at the misfortune of someone's genitals being crushed.

In five seconds, this boy will know the true meaning of hell.

With Vince Vaughn either appropriately channeling the calculated ambivalence of seventies Chevy Chase or simply just waiting for his paycheck, most of the scene stealing falls to Ben Stiller who gives one of the best performances of his career. Relishing in playing a villain for the first time, Stiller chews on scenery even Pacino would have a hard time getting down. He does a marvelous job as a former misfit who has "transformed" himself into what he sees as nothing short of a god amongst men ("from Frankenstein to Franken-FINE"). The fact that Stiller gives glimpses of the real sad sack behind the muscle is a mark of his gifted skill as a comic actor.

Along with Stiller, Dodgeball has a strong team of supporting players. Chief among them are Stiller's real life bride Christine Taylor as Kate Veatch the Joe team's ringer, Justin Long as a wide-eyed teenager, Jamal Duff as Stiller's henchman, and Missi Pyle playing a character who can only be described as the unholy love child of Frida Kahlo, Princess Leia, and a beaver. Also worth mentioning is the presence of Office Space's Stephen "Milton" Root and Gary "Lumbergh" Cole, two fanboy favorites.

Without the kind of uber-grossout raunch that would've garnered it an R rating (flab ass suffocation and pizza masturbation scenes excluded) thereby leaving the under seventeen crowd out in the cold, I'd wager Dodgeball will be one of the biggest money makers of the summer.

It deserves to.

Rating:

(3 1/2 out of 4 stars)

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