>From the various trailers, you couldn't possibly imagine just how funny this film truly is. People being hit with various foreign objects just never get old and writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber knows it. It's a real shame a movie like this won't get nominated for any major awards, but it should be. There hasn't been a movie all year that has contained this many laughs. (***** out of *****)
Fox has done a fantastic job with this disc overall, starting with the transfer. Barring some light grain and occasionally noticeable edge enhancement, this is a nearly perfect presentation. This is a film relying on strong (maybe even extreme) color and combining that with solid black levels, it creates great contrast that enhances everything. Flesh tones are dead on and compression hardly ever shows up even under close scrutiny. (****)
Most of the film is front loaded in the center channel until is has a chance to work all 5 channels. Once the big tournament begins, the crowd gets into the action, filling the sound field in effective fashion. Each ball blasts the players' faces in brutal fashion, and you'll feel every hit. It's not very aggressive, but this is a solid mix that brings the movie alive. (****)
Extras are not packed onto the disc, but what's here is at times funnier than the movie. First is an inside look at a new Fox movie, "Electra." Moving into the film, you can listen to a commentary from the director, Vaughn, and Stiller. Eight deleted scenes are included, and for the most part, these are smart deletions. A few probably could have stayed simply because of how funny they are, but the film does work at a brisk 90-minutes.
An alternate ending is included and it's easy to see how both endings worked. The problem is this one is obviously something people just wouldn't get. If you think about it, it just seems out of place. Nevertheless, the director offers up some commentary (like he does on the other 8 scenes) on how much he liked this one and how he fought to keep it.
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