Movie Review: The Benchwarmers

In an effort to help anyone reading this understand whether this film is worth seeing or not, I am going to place a disclaimer on this review: There are times when I make the trip to my local Cineplex and see a film that is wrought with immature themes and cheap "poop and fart joke" humor. During these films, it is very likely that I am transformed into a 12-year-old boy and become very easily amused. This was very recently the case.

I have long respected some of the great post-Saturday Night Live comedians who have gone on to make some of the best comedies of their time. The likes of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and even the more recent success of Will Ferrell come to mind. But Chase and Murray dominated the 80s, while Ferrell is taking over in the first decade of the 21st century. In the 90s, there were two SNL alums who stuck out in my mind: Chris Farley and Adam Sandler.

You have to look at where they have gone since their heydays to understand this next comment. Farley, as we all know, met an untimely end due to a drug overdose. Sandler, on the other hand, has matured in his career and gone on to make films that are recognized as being more than just slapstick comedy, but of a solid dramatic quality. (Punch Drunk Love comes to mind.) This is a maturity that seems to be the natural progression for most comedians. But this is not really about Sandler and Farley, is it? No. They are not in this film. This is about two actors who rode on the coattails of Sandler and Farley: Rob Schneider and David Spade.

Schneider and Spade brought balance to the comedic antics of the aforementioned Sandler and Farley. They were the second half of two solid comedic teams. Just think Tommy Boy or Happy Gilmore. What would Tommy Boy have been without David Spade's snide remarks about Tommy's weight? What would Happy Gilmore have been without the "You can do it!" guy? They may have been entertaining, but not quite as much. This brings me to my point, finally. While the likes of Adam Sandler have grown up and become real actors, what has become of Spade and Schneider? To say the least, they have become Benchwarmers.

Article Author: Film School Rejects

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