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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
2004 - PG-13 - 92 Mins.
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| Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber | | Producer: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld | | Written By: Rawson Marshall Thurber | | Starring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Root, Justin Long, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn |
| Review by: Joe Rickey |
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Nobody messes up my hair. Nobody!
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A riotous example of what a lowbrow comedy should be, 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story' is the first real comedic victory of this summer; a film with a crowd-pleasing story and great performances by a talented cast in the story of a band of misfit losers, one the owner (Vince Vaughn) of a gym called "Average Joes", who enter into an international dodgeball tournament as a last ditch attempt to save their beloved gym from being taken over by Globogym, a high-tech fitness center run by a egomaniacal fiend (Ben Stiller). The film is a triumphant debut for writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber, whose previous experience as a director of comedy-centric commercials has paid off big time.
'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story' works because while it does feature many physical gags surrounding the idea of people getting hit repeatedly with objects, whether they be balls, wrenches, or cars, they are still insanely funny because of the gleefully spirited way in which director Thurber handles everything. The film never takes itself seriously, instead allowing for high-spirits and crass but sharp writing to take the audience on one really humorous journey.
Speaking of sharp writing, some of the film’s best moments come when an old codger of a man, played by Rip Torn, enters the picture to help coach the Average Joes team to victory. The character’s nonsensical disregard for the safety and health of those he is coaching is downright hilarious, witness a scene in which he states "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball" and, before any of the players have time to protest, throws a wrench and hits one of the players right in the face in what is no doubt a very painful result, it still comes across as comic heaven, despite its lowbrow approach to the subject. He then takes the team to a busy highway and tells them to run one-by-one across the road; making sure to not be hit by cars. After all, as he says, "If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball." Director Thurber's keen eye for physical comedy helps such scenes rise above their inherently lowest common denominator stylings to become much more humorous than they had any right to be.
The film also benefits greatly from a cast who each give game performances. As the head of Average Joes, Vince Vaughn brings his usual quirky angle to the role of the Everyman. In the roles of his teammates, the likes of Justin Long ('Jeepers Creepers') as a perpetual loser at his high school and Stephen Root ('Office Space') as a big pudge of a man married to a cheating mail order bride each bring additional hilarity to the proceedings. For all the humor they bring to the film, none top Ben Stiller as the crazed, selfish fitness guru White Goodman, a man so enamored with himself that he has a shrine to himself in the lobby of his Globogym establishment. Stiller plays the part over the top yet not so much that the audience isn’t able to laugh at him. We have a rightful distaste for the character; Stiller is so self-deprecating that it works to the film’s advantage because we are supposed to hate the man. After all, he is the film's villain.
'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story' is a great comedy; one that can be enjoyed by everyone who remembers playing the game of dodgeball in PE class and those who have never played the game in their life.
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