Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

February 6, 2005

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 97 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is the type of over the top comedy that will always either be great or suck so bad that it is almost unwatchable. Rarely is there a middle ground with these movies. In this case, they got it right, we nearly wet our pants several times.

Average Joe’s Gym is ran by a slacker played by Vince Vaughn. Although Joe’s is a serious hole, it has a small but very loyal following of misfits that would be ridiculed in any other gym. Gyms such as the one across the street called Globo Gym. It is the home of all of the beautiful people and ran by White Goodman played by Ben Stiller. White has a Reebok style pump in the crotch of his spandex workout suit and a hair style that Rick Springfield would’ve killed for in the early 80’s.

Globo Gym wants to buy out Joe’s to turn it into a parking deck for their carb counting clientele. White acquires the mortgage and Average Joe’s finds itself needing $50,000 in a month or face the wrecking ball. They soon find themselves entered in a $50K dodge ball tournament with the fate of the gyms hanging in the balance.

The boys from Average Joe’s are a bunch of uncoordinated spaz’s, which makes for some hysterical scenes. But they get some help when they find a coach. The coach they find is former dodge ball champion Patches O’Houlihan, played by Rip Torn. One of his theories is if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. So he likes to hurl huge pieces of some of Craftsman’s finest products at the teams’ heads. He also utters such words of encouragement as “you’re as useless as a poo flavored lollipop”. All of the characters are funny, but Patches was by far the best quote machine in the movie.

There’s something hilarious about seeing grown men hurl a rubber playground ball into one another’s groin. But if that isn’t enough, there are some great cameos and surprises in this movie. For once, the studio got it right and did not give away the best laughs in the trailer. And Dodgeball is one of those movies you’re going to want to see at least twice because there are so many small touchs in the background that you cant possibly catch them all in one screening. We give this one 5 stars, it’s a must see, and we think a movie this funny is best seen the first time with a crowd. You wont feel as silly howling about the nut shots when you see the rest of the theater is also rolling in the floor.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 5 Stars, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Comedy, DVD, Jason Bateman, PG-13, Rip Torn, Vince Vaughn