Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story (DVD 2005)

One of the dumbest feel-good movies of recent times...but isn't that it's very reason for existing?

Vince Vaughn stars as Peter LaFleur, an under-achiever with a lot of charisma. His gym is rundown and about to be taken over by White Goodman, played by Ben Stiller. Goodman is LaFleur's rival, he owns Globo Gym and is an egomaniacal fitness freak who places physical prowess above all else.

LaFleur desperately needs money to rescue his gym, Average Joe's, and so tries to win it by entering his team of useless gym members in a Dodgeball tournament. They find themselves squaring off against the Globo Gym team, in a winner-takes-all showdown.

It is very predictable, and puerile, of the sort that the Farrelly brothers have made their trademark. Yet somehow, it manages to rise above these limitations and offer plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

Rawson Marshall Thurber, director, finds increasingly absurd ways of putting his performers in harm's way, and the training sequences are some of those times. As you watch Average Joe's underdogs being coached by a wheelchair-bound former Dodgeball champion, you will be laughing hysterically. Their coach, Patches O'Houlihan is played by Rip Torn in his robust, dirty old man mode, and he has interesting ideas of teaching. Afterall, if they can dodge a spanner, or a car, surely they can dodge a ball easily.

Meanwhile, White's over-inflated ego produce all manner of cringe-worthy scenarios, whether it's trying to woo his legal advisor (his real-life wife Christine Taylor), or by reading a dictionary, 'To stay in mental shape too'. Ben Stiller knows the 'cringe factor' like the back of his hand.

The casting is definitely a large part of what makes the film work so well. Stiller and Vaughn are both very amusing, and obviously enjoying themselves. Vaughn uses his on-screen smooth talking coolness to deliver a life-long loser that the audience really get behind.

Stiller, just about manages to stay the right side of annoying, and his character is meant to be more than a little irritating anyway. How he managed to stop laughing long enough to film, when he is sporting a 'power-mullet', is unknown, but surely took a lot of skill!

A fair few cameos keep the movie lively, amongst which were Hank Azaria, David Hasselhoff, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner. They all add a little something to the film.

It is in no way complex, choosing a childlike level of laughter with a wanton disregard for taste. It has a lot of energy though, and even those determined not to enjoy it, will likely find themselves chuckling along anyway.

With a tagline, 'Grab life by the balls' what else were we really expecting?