Released 2004
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring:
Vince Vaughn
Christine Taylor
Ben Stiller
Rip Torn
Alan Tudyk
Okay, so I admit that I don't have the most highbrow taste in movies all the time. I like to judge movies against what they were meant to be rather than against some random standard of what movies should be. Dodgeball is not Citizen Kane, but if all movies were, things would be awfully boring, wouldn't they?I loved this movie. It is silly. From the first to last minute is is just silly. The plot is one you've seen before. There's the small local business (in this case a gym run by Vince Vaughan) that is going to be crushed by the big corporation (run by Ben Stiller) unless they can come up with a lot of money fast. So they brainstorm and decide to have a car wash. When the car wash doesn't work, then they decide to play dodgeball.
Alan Tudyk is brilliant as Steve the Pirate, a member of the small gym who thinks he is a pirate. (Plus, I just love him cause he was in Firefly.)
The story goes exactly as you would expect for this genre. They face problems and eventually triumph. No surprise. But what makes it funny is the goofy humor throughout. From Ben Stiller's inflatable crotch to the game where they lost their uniforms and had to play in bondage gear.
If you like celebrity cameos, you'll love this film. It has Hank Azaria, Jason Bateman, Chuck Norris, William Shatner, David Hasselhoff, and Lance Armstrong.
This isn't a movie that is going to make you think or change the world. It is a movie that will make you laugh for 92 minutes. (And make sure to stay through the credits - there's an extra scene.) And there's nothing wrong with a movie that is funny. We all need to laugh sometimes.
