Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Review
by Dave Bloom (dmb5175 AT gmail DOT com)June 29th, 2004
The thing about Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story that made it just so good was that the entire idea was flat out stupid. However, unlike many modern day, stupid hollywood movies (i.e. Garfield The Movie, White Chicks, etc.), Dodgeball does not try to be anything more than it is: stupid. It seemed that everyone working on the project realized that a movie about a Dodgeball tournament was never going to have a gripping plot with an oscar winning screenplay. They worked with the stupid idea instead, and made it all fit together.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story stars Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Rip Torn, and Christine Taylor along with a hilarious ragtag cast. Vaughn plays Peter La Fleur, a shady character who owns Average Joe's Gym. Stiller has a bit of a character change in this movie. From his usually pesky, geeky type role, in Dodgeball he plays an arrogant Narcissus named White Goodman who is, incidently, quite an imbecile. Think of a mix of his character in Heavyweights and Zoolander, and we have Goodman. Taylor, who is Stiller's wife off screen, plays a lawyer who tries to help Vaughn's character and ends up falling for him.
The premise of the story is that since La Fleur has not paid off any taxes for about a year, unless he can come up with a sum of $50,000, his gym will be sold to White Goodman, who owns the GloboGym chain ("We're better than you! And we know it!" is there slogan). The two have been rivals for quite some time, but the reason as to why is only briefly discussed. Stephen Root (Yes, Milton from Office Space), who plays Gordon, a person who frequents at Average Joe's, comes up with the idea to play at a Dodgeball Tournament in Las Vegas, with the grand prize at $50,000. Torn's character is Patches O'Houlihan, who is an old legend to the sport of Dodgeball. He not only offers, but tells La Fleur that he is their new coach. But, Goodman finds out about their plot and enters his own team of steroid-pumped characters to make sure La Fleur would lose. After training, they are off to the tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament is broadcasted by the ESPN 8, or The Ocho. The announcers for the tournament are played by Jason Bateman from Arrested Development, and Gary Cole, and they pull off excellent impressions of normal sportscastors, bringing an unexpected dose of comedy. Along the way, The Average Joe's face off against such teams as the M.I.L.F.S., the Cougars, The Lumberjacks, and more. Cameos are made by Chuck Norris, William Shatner, and Lance Armstrong.
Throughout the movie I was laughing hysterically to the jokes made by the cast. The rest of the cast, including Justin Long as a whipped teenager who is crazy about a girl from his High School, Joel Moore, as a love-craving geek, Chris Williams as one of the loyal staff members from Average Joe's gym, and Alan Tudyk as a strange person who seems to think he is a pirate, all contributed major parts to the movie, and all deserve credit in the overall success of the film. From Stiller's moronic comebacks to Vaughn's wry wisecracks, the movie made me choke on my soda from so much laughter. I can guarantee you the same experience, so as a word to the wise, don't bring anything you could choke on.
This is certainly one of the best comedy movies I have seen in many years, and it is perfect for your average summer movie. So if you are going to the movies, instead of wasting money at The Chronicles of Riddick or Van Helsing or Garfield The Movie, go get yourself a good laugh at Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
Grade - B
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