"That's a nice-a donut."

Friday, April 29, 2005


Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

In comedy there is often a very fine line between what is funny and what is unfunny. For some people a joke may be funny or hilarious or sometimes just subtlely delicious in its wisdom. For other people a joke may be unfunny, dumb, sometimes lame or even downright embarrassing. For this reviewer, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was generally the latter. It is an extremely predictable farce about an owner of a failing gym who is about to lose the business to a successful rival. He has thirty days to scrounge up $50,000. After an ill-fated car wash, one of the loyal members of his gym comes up with a plan to enter a dodgeball tournament. And what do you know - the top prize is $50,000!

Ben Stiller, as the freakish rival who is somewhat reminiscent of Hans or Franz from Saturday Night Live, once again is the weakest link. When he tries to be outrageous or over-the-top, or even when he just tries to be funny, Stiller is simply one of the worst actors around. If pretty much anyone else was in this role I may actually have liked the movie. Vince Vaughn, as the main character, and his band of outcasts from the gym are all decent. Stephen Root, who played the loveable loser Milton in the cult-classic Office Space, reprises pretty much the same role here. But the few laughs mostly come from Rip Torn as the wheelchair-bound (and quite vulgar) ex-dodgeball star. "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball," is a great line and certainly one of the more memorable moments.

The ending of Dodgeball is Hollywood at its worst. But again, as with many things, appreciation for comedy is very subjective. One man's trash is another man's treasure, so the saying goes.

The Verdict: C-.

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