DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story – 1 star (terrible)
Only in Hollywood a really terrible movie with Ben Stiller that cost $20 million to produce could pull in $167 worldwide. Welcome to “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story,” which Dreamworks and MGM passed on and Fox finally agreed to do when Stiller cut his salary to less than $1 million.
After seeing the unrated version of this comic disaster, it would be hard to recommend DodgeBall for viewing by youngsters in any rating.
There is comedy in this script somewhere, but it will never classify as anything more than rank comedy with all the unnecessary foul language and sexual references one might hear from teenagers caught in a public school playground.
Credit the writer/director of this film, Rawson Marshall Thurber, for the sophomore script and youthful direction. Thurber joins a host of other writer/directors who are totally beyond his ability to try to write and direct the same movie.
Thurber joins a not-so-exclusive club of fellow writer/directors who have fallen short, including Peter Weir for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Nancy Meyers for Something’s Gotta Give, Thomas Bezucha for The Family Stone, Michael McGowan for Saint Ralph, Jared Hess for Napoleon Dynamite, Robert Rodríguez for Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Paul Thomas Anderson for Punch-Drunk Love. The worst of these is Punch-Drunk Love without a doubt.
If you want a great movie from a writer/director, try Tim McCanlies’ Secondhand Lions or Kirk Jones’ Waking Ned Devine.
DodgeBall is the story of two guys who own fitness centers: failed Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) at Average Joe’s Gym, and egotistical White Goodman (Ben Stiller) at Global Gym. White hatches a plan to take over Peter’s operation with the help of bank clerk Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor), who falls for Peter’s inept and unassuming charm.
To avoid being put out of business, Peter must come up with $50,000 and he, of course, doesn’t really have a hundred to his name. It’s up to his gang of misfit clients to help rescue Peter. They include a self-proclaimed pirate, a skinny nerd with eyes for an unattainable cheerleader, a weird obscure sports fan, a young goofball, and a cocky know-it-all.
His answer is to enter a national dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas and capture the $50,000 winner’s prize. Peter’s team ends up in the final against White’s pro team and, well, you can guess who wins in the end.
DodgeBall has cameos from Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, William Shatner, and David Hasselhoff.
DodgeBall was nominated for Best Sports Movie at the ESPY Awards, the same year that “Million Dollar Baby” won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Picture of the year. Clint Eastwood won an Oscar the same year for Best Director for Million Dollar Baby.
On the other hand, Ben Stiller (as White Goodman) was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor. That pretty much sums up Stiller’s performance.
At its core, DodgeBall has no substance as a fluffy contribution to comedy cinema and is probably best viewed by teenagers and young men.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley