Barnes & Noble

One of 2004's real cinematic surprises, Dodgeball is an unabashedly lowbrow comedy, the type that gleans laughs by heaping indignities on its cast members. Most of the men sustain blows to their private parts (some repeatedly), and whenever the action flags director Rawson Marshall Thurber has somebody smacked in the head as well. In short, Dodgeball offers an endless procession of lowest-common-denominator sight gags and pratfalls. But it also manages to invest a hackneyed story with energy and infectious humor, of the "slobs vs. snobs" variety. Vince Vaughn -- who, alone among the male cast members, emerges with his dignity relatively intact -- plays the lackadaisical owner of a ramshackle gym about to be foreclosed on by successful health-club owner Ben Stiller. Having only a few days to come up with the 50 grand Stiller requires, Vaughn and his motley customers enter a champion dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas -- only to find that they'll be playing against Stiller's highly trained, hyper-competitive team. Christine Taylor (Stiller's real-life wife) portrays a sympathetic accountant who joins Vaughn's hapless band of geeks, and Rip Torn engages in some scenery chewing as a former dodgeball champ coaxed out of retirement to coach the team. (His coaching regimen mainly involves throwing wrenches at his players.) The tournament sequence is a hoot, with supporting players Gary Cole and Jason Bateman nearly stealing the show as overly enthusiastic ESPN commentators. Some clever verbal jokes are sprinkled throughout the script, and Vaughn tosses off some snappy one-liners with improvisational brio. For a film that happily traffics in bad-taste humor, Dodgeball is surprisingly entertaining, in a "guilty pleasure" sort of way. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story revolves around amiable underachiever Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn), whose rundown gym, Average Joe's, is populated by a less-than-average clientele including a self-styled pirate, an ultra-obscure sports aficionado, and a pining high school nerd. It soon becomes apparent that Joe's is in financial trouble and will soon be foreclosed by attractive attorney Kate Veach (Christine Taylor) - unless Peter can cough up $50,000. Despite Average Joe's posing little threat to Globo Gym, a fitness Goliath across the street that is owned by egomaniacal White Goodman (Ben Stiller) - Goodman senses an easy acquisition and decides to take over the facility. Peter's ragtag group of regulars, however, are less than thrilled with the prospects, and mobilize a showdown, winner-takes-all Dodgeball tournament against Globo Gym. The film also features Missi Pyle, Rip Torn, Stephen Root, and Alan Tudyk. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 024543152798
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 1:32:00
• Sales Rank: 23,096

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Dodgeball: a True Underdog Story / Stuck on You
• Dudes 3-Pack
• Jock Collection
• Jock Collection

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