jimbo-53-186511 Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughan) is the owner of Average Joe's Gym which is located next to Globo Gym which is a much larger multi-chain gym owned by obnoxious and self-obsessed White Goodman (Ben Stiller). When LaFleur discovers that he has 30 days to pay off $50,000 he panics and his first attempt at raising some quick cash fails. One of the members of his gym sees an advert in a magazine advertising a Dodgeball competition and the prize for winning the competition is $50,000. Seeing this as being their only option to earn that amount of cash in the time frame required, LaFleur and his gym members form a team and get trained by former Dodgeball champion Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn). However, when Goodman gets wind that LaFleur is entering into the Dodgeball championship he assembles his own crack team and enters the competition himself to win the money and put an end to LaFleur's hopes of saving his gymnasium.The start of the film is quite impressive with Stiller's monologue being a parody of the sort of thing that you'd expect to see on Teleshopping or QVC. This aspect is funny as I myself don't take a lot of what these channels say seriously and I can see that this was the effect that was trying to be achieved here. The film then shifts focus on to Vaughan and it's clear to see that he's a pleasant enough person, but clearly has no idea how to run a business. The problems for me started when the film started to establish the actual plot....Once the plot kicks in then it becomes fairly obvious that writer and director Rawson Marshall Thurber has gone for very easy targets in order to generate laughs (most of the 'laughs' on offer here stem from seeing people being hit with a ball). OK you may argue that it's a film about Dodgeball and that's the point. Fair enough... I would expect some of the laughs to stem from this, but surely a better scripted film would have us laughing at the characters for what they say as well as what they do. I'm not a fan of comedies that seem to just rely on physical humour as I think it's lazy and sadly this really is a lazy film. The characters all fall into the usual clichés with Thurber deciding that one of them should act like a pirate all the time which was never funny and grew more annoying as time passed.The performances from Stiller and Vaughan weren't brilliant if we're honest; the former overacts most of the time and crosses the line between being funny and being annoying on almost every occasion. Vaughan fares slightly better as his performance feels more natural, but I still felt that he underplayed his role slightly meaning that I couldn't engage with him as a character quite as much as I should have done.The final sequence of events seems to thrown in every single cliché in the book and all of these events lead to a fairly safe and predictable ending - barring one surprise that LaFleur has for Goodman which I'll admit was pretty funny (I liked that as I do like the idea of the little people getting the better of the big people).All in all then Dodgeball is a fairly forgettable film with a fairly standard story which aims for cheap laughs far too often. For me, an underdog story will always have some merit, but the truth is that Dodgeball is too basic and just simply isn't funny enough.

Python Hyena Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004): Dir: Rawson Marshall Thurber / Cast: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, Hank Azaria: Amusing and somewhat unique sports comedy about life's curve balls. It stars Vince Vaughn who owns a fitness gym called Average Joe's that is threatened to be demolished into a parking lot by fitness instructor Ben Stiller of Globo- Gym. Vaughn must come up with $50, 000 and the method of payment becomes a dodgeball competition, which Globo-Gym also enters. Dodgeball becomes the deciding factor. Effective premise exploits fitness clubs and the image pressure to look good. There are the expected clichés such as the stereotype players made up of characters more or less from better movies. Directed with comic insight by Rawson Marshall Thurber with many great sight jokes. Vaughn fares well as Average Joe's front man out to win this competition and gain predicted respect. Stiller steals scenes with his outlandish behaviour that will ultimately lead to his downfall. Christine Taylor plays an attorney in what can only be described as a romantic prop. Rip Torn plays an aged dodgeball trainer whose sudden dismiss seems too cliché. Then there are a slew of effective actors in comic form playing the standard dimwits who play types over personalities. Theme suggests we dodge images thrown by fitness club egos. Score: 7 / 10

TheFunkyBass Dodgeball is a movie about a group of misfits that enter a tournament to save their gym. Timing is everything in a comedy, so the editing in this film was very important, and they nailed it. I liked Vince Vaughn's character, for once he's not the prick or douche in a movie. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller have a great chemistry. Their stature difference is also very funny. The movie has many classic comedic moments like the car wash or their first match with the girl scouts or the suitcase with a million dollars. Justin Long has one of the funniest slapstick moments. One of my favorite ones is the wrench thrown at him. It gets me every time. Hank Azaria as young Patches was genius casting. Though casting Christine Taylor as the girl that played better than everyone else was a bit cliché. There were awesome cameo appearances by Jason Bateman, David Hasselhoff, Lance Armstrong, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and many more!Overall, it was a very fun movie and a comedy classic. 7/10

OllieSuave-007 This is a pretty funny movie about a group of underdogs and misfits, who enter a Las Vegas dodge-ball tournament in order to save their local gym from a much larger Global Gym run by muscular and athletic men.At 92 minutes, this movie is pretty intriguing from start to finish, nothing too drawn out that would render the movie boring and unremarkable. The story goes straight to the point of pitting the average joes against the athletes, telling us that even if you do seem like an underdog or are outnumbered, your perseverance will triumph over your adversaries. There are some corny moments, but this movie isn't meant to be taken as a serious drama.Vince Vaughn does a pretty good job in his role leading the underdogs, and Ben Stiller does a devilish job in portraying the leader of the Global Gym, trying to buy off Vaugh's local and struggling gym. And, it is a real treat to see some cameos from big stars such as Chuck Norris, Gary Cole, William Shatner and David Hasselhoff.Overall, a pretty fun film good for some laughs and surprises.Grade B+