Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, Alan Tudyk, Justin Long, Stephen Root
Sure we've seen the story a million times. A team of misfits band together and rise up to defeat their evil nemeses in the big game. This has been done in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc., but dodge ball? Dodge Ball: A True Underdog Story is very funny because it skewers sports movie cliches while actually making the playground game interesting as a team game. I played dodge ball in gym class when I was in third grade, but I don't recall it being this complex.
Vince Vaughn stars as Pete Lafleur, a lazy gym owner who doesn't keep any financial records and doesn't even bother charging monthly dues to the gym's five members. To him, the second and third or even fourth request to pay the gym's mortgage are mere guidelines. His gym is called Average Joe's and its members are loyal goofballs. Maybe that's because he doesn't charge them to use his gym. "If I don't set expectations, I find I can never be disappointed," is Pete's motto. He tries to impress the bank's beautiful financial auditor Kate (Taylor) with this line. She can't make any headway trying to sort out the pile of papers that passes for his financial records.
Across the street is Globo Gym, run by the fitness maniac White Goodman (Stiller), who speaks as if he's trying to master Dirty Harry's voice modulation. He has a daily battle with junk food temptation, even giving himself electric shocks whenever he puts a piece of pizza too close to his mouth. Goodman wants to take over Average Joe's and convert it to a parking lot. His gym holds the bank note on Average Joe's and hires Kate to audit Pete's records. Goodman also tries inappropriate pick-up lines with her to no avail.
In order to save Average Joe's, one of the members discovers a team dodge ball tournament which can net enough prize money to save the gym from a takeover. With a reluctant Pete in tow, the group enlists the help of legendary dodge ball superstar Patches O' Houlihan (Torn) to train them and try and win the tournament in Las Vegas. Just to drive the shiv into Pete a little further, Goodman forms his own team consisting of muscular meatheads. Kate joins Pete's team after she is fired for rejecting Goodman's pathetic advances.
There are plenty of funny moments here. O' Houlihan's training regimen consists of having his charges duck wrenches being thrown at them. The Las Vegas tournament is presented on ESPN 8 ("The Ocho") and commentary is provided by the deadpan Gary Cole and the spaced-out Jason Bateman, who both manage satirize sports commentators and embrace them at the same time. Back in 2004, eight ESPN channels was the joke. Today, ESPN probably has surpassed that number of channels for all I know. Then there's Average Joe's teammate Steve (Tudyk), who inexplicably dresses as and speaks like a pirate. And let's not forget the bar the teams hang out in, called The Dirty Sanchez, complete with a large neon sign.
I laughed often watching Dodge Ball. Vince Vaughn plays against type as the lazy Pete who underplays everything. Stiller is the uptight villain who may or may not finally lose his battle against junk food. Rip Torn snarls as he drills the 5 D's of dodge ball into his trainees. Two of the D's stand for dodge. He even theorizes that Kate is a lesbian. Who knew a dodge ball legend could be so intuitive about human nature? Or even that there was such a thing as a dodge ball legend?
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