DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story – 1 star (Terrible)

In Hollywood alone, a truly terrible movie with Ben Stiller, which cost $ 20 million to produce, could bring in $ 167 worldwide. Welcome to “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story,” which Dreamworks and MGM ran over and Fox finally agreed to do when Stiller cut his salary to less than $ 1 million.

After watching the unrated version of this comic disaster, it would be hard to recommend DodgeBall for young people of any rating to watch.

There is a comedy in this script somewhere, but it will never be classified as anything other than a rank comedy with all the unnecessary dirty language and sexual references one might hear from teenagers caught off guard in a schoolyard. public.

Credit this film’s writer / director, Rawson Marshall Thurber, for sophomore script and youth directing. Thurber joins a host of other writers / 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 writers / 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 Rodriquez for Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Paul Thomas Anderson for Punch-Drunk Love. The worst of them is drunken love without a doubt.

For a great writer / director movie, try Tim McCanlies ‘Secondhand Lions or Kirk Jones’ Waking Ned Devine.

DodgeBall is the story of two guys who own fitness centers: the underperforming Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) at Average Joe’s Gymnasium, and the egomaniac 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 in love with Peter’s inept and unassuming charm.

To go out of business, Peter must contribute $ 50,000 and, of course, he does not have $ 100 to his name. It’s up to his gang of misfit clients to help rescue Peter. They include a self-styled pirate, a scrawny nerd with eyes for an unreachable cheerleader, a weird dark sports fan, a goofy young man, and an arrogant know-it-all.

His answer is to participate in a national dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas and capture the winner’s prize of $ 50,000. 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 guest appearances from Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, William Shatner, and David Hasselhoff.

DodgeBall was nominated for Best Sports Movie by 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.

In essence, DodgeBall has no substance as a fluffy contribution to comedy movie making and is probably best viewed by teens and young men.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley