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Happily, there is a lot of funny stuff in Dodgeball to make you want to see it a second time. Nice guy Peter La Fleur is the owner of a small gym that is on the verge of foreclosure unless he can come up with $50,000. Even if the mortgage payments were current, the club is so outdated that it looks more like a place where homeless people crash for the evening. In a desperate attempt to save the gym Peter hires an accountant Kate Veatch (played by pretty lady Christine Taylor) to go over the books. The problem is that Peter hasn't looked at the books since Clinton was President so her help is to of no avail. Things have gotten even worse because a rich spoiled brat has built a beautiful gym right next door. The brat is played to absolute hilarity by Ben Stiller who has his own unique way of impressing the ladies. By sheer coincidence there is dodgeball tournament at Las Vegas that will pay-yep you got it, $50,000 to the 1st place team. Since Peter and his friends have virtually no talent, they bring in coach Patches O'Houlihan for training. His training includes tools of steel(literally)to ones face that will adjust them to the agony of being hit by a ball. (That part was included during the sneak preview but I laughed even harder the second time around). Two other characters also add to the fun. Gary Cole (Office Space) and Justin Bateman from Starsky And Hutch play the sport announcers and Bateman isn't exactly rowing the boat with both oars especially after he hopes that the outcome of the game won't be affected when Vaughn's team has to forfeit. P.S. The Surgeon General has a warning that drinking pop with a straw may be hazardous to your health if you watch the ending credits.Read full review
I have owned this movie before but lent it out and never got it back, so i needed another copy as it was just so funny. Synopsis: Remember your childhood fears – perhaps born on your local playgrounds– of a red rubber ball hurtling towards your head? Or the sweet taste of revenge when you threw it right back at the class bully? Well, get ready to once again dodge, duck,... Remember your childhood fears – perhaps born on your local playgrounds– of a red rubber ball hurtling towards your head? Or the sweet taste of revenge when you threw it right back at the class bully? Well, get ready to once again dodge, duck, dip and dive…dodgeball is back, and this time it’s not just for the schoolyard. Dodgeball is becoming a cultural phenomenon. Adult dodgeball leagues are springing up in major cities, Vanity Fair called the game the “It Sport,” and The New York Times and Fortune recently heralded the sport’s re-emergence. So the time is ripe for a poignant motion picture that brings dignity and respect to the world of competitive dodgeball. A tale in the tradition of great films about legendary sports heroes. An emotionally stirring look at the thrills of victory and the heartbreaks of defeat. We’ll let you know when that movie is made. In the meantime, we have DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY, a film that grabs life by the ball. The story’s protagonist, Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn), is a charismatic underachiever and proprietor of a rundown gym called Average Joe’s. The facility’s clientele of decidedly less-than-“average Joes” is made up of a self-styled pirate, a scrawny nerd who dreams of impressing an unattainable cheerleader, an obsessive aficionado of obscure sports, a dim-witted young man, and a cocky know-it-all who, of course, really knows nothing. Peter’s humble gym catches the eye of White Goodman (Ben Stiller), the power-mullet-sporting, Fu-Manchu-d, egomaniacal owner of Globo Gym, a gleaming monolith of fitness. White intends to take over Average Joe’s, and Peter’s non-existent bookkeeping is making it all too easy for him. A foreclosing bank has stationed attorney Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor) inside Average Joe’s to finalize Globo’s takeover of the gym. But Peter’s boyish charms win her over and Kate joins his team of social rejects to beat the odds – and their own ineptitude – to try to save Average Joe’s. How? A showdown dodgeball competition against Globo Gym. “Finally,” says DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY producer/star Ben Stiller, with tongue planted at least a little in cheek, “there is a real dodgeball film that doesn’t pull any punches and really shows the pain and humiliation associated with having a ball slam you in the face, in front of lots of people.” Stiller’s on-screen nemesis, Vince Vaughn, sees amidst the film’s raucous comedy, a universal tale of honor. “It’s about people who don’t fit in a traditional way, who come together and find self-respect and something – their gym – worth defending. Dodgeball becomes a vehicle for them to learn some life lessons and stand up for themselves.” Honor? Life lessons? Perhaps. But one thing is certain: DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORYRead full review
One of the dumbest feel-good movies of recent times...but isn't that it's very reason for existing? Vince Vaughn stars as Peter LaFleur, an under-achiever with a lot of charisma. His gym is rundown and about to be taken over by White Goodman, played by Ben Stiller. Goodman is LaFleur's rival, he owns Globo Gym and is an egomaniacal fitness freak who places physical prowess above all else. LaFleur desperately needs money to rescue his gym, Average Joe's, and so tries to win it by entering his team of useless gym members in a Dodgeball tournament. They find themselves squaring off against the Globo Gym team, in a winner-takes-all showdown. It is very predictable, and puerile, of the sort that the Farrelly brothers have made their trademark. Yet somehow, it manages to rise above these limitations and offer plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Rawson Marshall Thurber, director, finds increasingly absurd ways of putting his performers in harm's way, and the training sequences are some of those times. As you watch Average Joe's underdogs being coached by a wheelchair-bound former Dodgeball champion, you will be laughing hysterically. Their coach, Patches O'Houlihan is played by Rip Torn in his robust, dirty old man mode, and he has interesting ideas of teaching. Afterall, if they can dodge a spanner, or a car, surely they can dodge a ball easily. Meanwhile, White's over-inflated ego produce all manner of cringe-worthy scenarios, whether it's trying to woo his legal advisor (his real-life wife Christine Taylor), or by reading a dictionary, 'To stay in mental shape too'. Ben Stiller knows the 'cringe factor' like the back of his hand. The casting is definitely a large part of what makes the film work so well. Stiller and Vaughn are both very amusing, and obviously enjoying themselves. Vaughn uses his on-screen smooth talking coolness to deliver a life-long loser that the audience really get behind. Stiller, just about manages to stay the right side of annoying, and his character is meant to be more than a little irritating anyway. How he managed to stop laughing long enough to film, when he is sporting a 'power-mullet', is unknown, but surely took a lot of skill! A fair few cameos keep the movie lively, amongst which were Hank Azaria, David Hasselhoff, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner. They all add a little something to the film. It is in no way complex, choosing a childlike level of laughter with a wanton disregard for taste. It has a lot of energy though, and even those determined not to enjoy it, will likely find themselves chuckling along anyway. With a tagline, 'Grab life by the balls' what else were we really expecting?Read full review
Brilliant film. I am a massive Ben Stiller film and he does not disappoint in this offering. Predictable story, but so well acted by all of the stars that it gets away with it. Stiller is excellent, Christine Taylor is stunning and Vince Vaughn is surprisingly good as the hapless good guy. The extras are good and the length of the film is just right. The supporting cast are perfect and Rip Torn hams it up as the non-pc coach. If you fancy a 90 minute-long laugh, then go hire this
Ben Stiller's best character performance to date as the self-styled guru, performing gung-ho on info adverts, with the hilarious catchphrase 'because we're better than you; and you know it!'. This is a high point. Vaughn tries his best to appear insecure and humble - but it's against his character; it works, he can act, but you know him too well to accept his humility in the face of Stiller's overt nastiness. It seems the genre of underdog sports movie still isn't wearing thin even 10 years after Teenwolf and The Might Ducks. And Hasselhoff is becoming increasingly popular as an iconic figure - he helped bring down the Berlin Wall after all. Brilliant.
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