Dodgeball:
A True Underdog Story

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, William Shatner (cameo), Check Norris (cameo), David Hasselhoff (cameo)
Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Box Office: $114,326,736
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: After corporate giant Globo Gym moves to town, Average Joe's, a locally owned gym loses so much money that it needs $50,000 to stay open. The owner (Vince Vaughn) reluctantly enters a dodgeball tournament whose winner recieves $50,000. However, the Globo Gym owner (Ben Stiller) enters his team in an attempt to stop the Average Joes, and force them to close.

Review:

Tim: I actually found this movie to be pretty disappointing. It should and could have been a whole lot better. I was really, really excited about seeing this movie, and just not happy with what I saw. Some jokes fall flat, others never materialize at all. The few jokes that do connect are pretty memorable and hilarious, however. "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball"- what a great scene. I especially like Chuck Norris (and especially Ben Stiller's view of him at the end of the movie). This is hilarious.

Stiller is somewhat disappointing as the bad guy. He has the great, "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood," line, but for most of the movie, he is annoying and not enjoyable at all. He was hilarious as a "bad guy" in Happy Gilmore, but not so much here.

Vince Vaughn is decent as the hero of the film, but he isn't as funny or as charasmatic as he has been in the past. I was slightly disappointed with him.

Christine Taylor (Stiller's real life wife) is very good. I remember her from her "Hey Dude" days and always like to see her in films. She is very good in her scenes with both Stiller and Vaughn.

Rip Torn is by far the funniest actor in the film. He gets the lion's share of the best lines and delivers them all perfectly.

Watch for Stiller after the credits are over. Most people think it is hilarious, but I found it to be awful, disgusting, and not funny at all. Maybe I was just tired of watching the movie by this point, but I wasn't amused in the least. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a somewhat decent comedy. I love seeing dodgeball movies and I hope there are many more to come. Hopefully they'll just be better than this one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Swingers, Zoolander, Starsky & Hutch, Meet the Parents, Happy Gilmore, Domestic Disturbance