Those red rubber balls hurt. Just about all of us have suffered a cruel fate at their hands at some point in out lives. "Dodgeball" takes a look at this very painful situation for exactly what it is: funny. That's assuming of course you're the thrower and not the victim.
Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) runs a small gym called Average Joe's. His financial system is less than stellar and a new corporate health spa run by White Goodman (Ben Stiller) is cutting into his business. Forced with a mortgage of $50,000, Peter and his rag tag crew of gym buddies must enter a dodgeball tournament to win the money or they'll lose the building they love so much.
There is hardly a moment in this movie where you won't laugh. The basic rules of the sport are laid out in gut-busting fashion, but that's just one small segment. This film is a riot, a priceless parody of sports and sports movies.
Ben Stiller leads the way as the over-the-top owner of Globo Gym. His role is played with completely ridiculous mannerisms, but for whatever reason, you can buy into it as a perfect parody. Vaughn plays the role straight, sort of taking a sideline approach and giving oddball looks towards his advisory while trying to win over super-hot Christine Taylor.
The rest of the cast compliments the two males leads just fine, with Rip Torn almost taking over at times with insane one-liners as a retired star player. Cameos are many from William Shatner, Lance Armstrong, and Chuck Norris. Stephen Root also takes another perfect role for himself, probably his best comedic role since "Office Space." The "ESPN 8" commentators make for some priceless stuff too, including another "Office Space" veteran, Gary Cole.
Though the script is really just about great comedy, it obviously cares little for the story; but that's ok. It's a parody. It just takes what other movies have done and rips them inside out. There are some great moments that take a stab at real pro sports as well. There is a great mix of smart, witty written laughs, but the best moments are almost all physical. Rip Torn's training regiment makes for some of the funniest moments this film has to offer.
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Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, but wouldn't go quite so far as you in the heaping on of praise.
However, I thought Stiller gave one of his funnier performances as White Goodman (the self-torture with nipple clamps while tempting himself with a doughnut... that will stay with me for some time).
I'm a huge fan of Vince Vaughn, and he was good here -- but I think he was a bit underutilized.
I suppose I just couldn't place with the best sports comedies. Major League, in my opinion, works much better as an overall movie -- you really want the Indians and its players to win in the end -- whereas in Dodgeball, you know it's all about the slapstick.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Very good movie overall.
Eric Berlin
Dumpster Bust: Miracles from Mind Trash
http://dumpsterbust.blogspot.com
2 - crocoPuffs
This review is way off target. Dodgeball is not very funny. Here is a more accurate review:
http://www.crocopuffs.com/reviews/dodgeball.html