I'm always willing to take the bullet so you don't have to. I braved the crush of the cineplex to take in the latest film from megastar Rob Schneider, superstar David Spade, and rising star Jon Heder. If you couldn't fiure it out, there was a litle bit of sarcasm mixed in there. I am not, allow me to repeat, I am not a fan of Rob Schneider. He is fine in his bit parts in Adam Sandler movies, but that has been about it. David Spade hasn't been all that funny since the unfortunate passing of Chris Farley. As for Jon Heder, I thought he was great in Napoleon Dynamite, but can he do anything else? I went to The Benchwarmers hoping for nothing, expecting the worst. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. Then again, it wasn't half good either.
The movie is the standard sports underdog story. Three losers, all grown up, are called to the diamond to stand up for the little guy, lest he grow up to be just like them. They find funding from another grown up loser, one who geeked his way into a fortune and wants to help. The trio battle their way up the ladder, taking on all the tough kids, and dealing with their bully coaches.
Nothing terribly groundbreaking, it follows the formula that I am sure you are all familiar with. If you've seen one of these types of movies, you've seen them all. The film can't really be judged by the formula - you either like this kind of movie, or you don't. The real key is how successul it is on a pure entertainment level.
The movie was actually pretty funny, but the thing to remember is that this is not a good movie. This is not art, nor is it meant to be. Most likely, it was made to try to snag a quick buck from moviegoers who are thirsting for comedy. There are probably enough fans of the stars to recoup their production costs.
Article comments
1 - Sterfish
"The movie was actually pretty funny, but the thing to remember is that this is not a good movie"
You are absolutely dead on with that line. It's weird to think that a comedy that's funny isn't necessarily a good movie. I mean, isn't the point of a comedy to make you laugh? Wouldn't it only be a bad movie if it didn't make you laugh?
I think, though, that a lot of it is the overall experience of seeing it in a theater. I saw the movie How High at an advance screening. Most people laughed even though that was a godawful movie. I think if I saw The Benchwarmers on DVD instead in a packed theater, it may not have gotten so much as a chuckle out of me.
2 - Luke
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? this was by far the best and funniest movie ive seen in a long time, and the actors were amazing...5 OUT OF 5!!!! rob schneider was great, david spade was hilarious, and jon heder, hahaha hes so funny, and i cant believe you wouldnt like this movie, its so funny no offense to the type of people it makes fun of but if you didnt like it, you must either just be to mature for this (since so many of the laughs were for immature subjects) or u just must be the kind of person they make fun of therefore taking it personally...so i dont know about you, but THIS IS AN AMAZING MOVIE!!!!