Hey folks, Harry here... this review is one of those so-so reviews that I wish was better. Call me crazy, but I really think there's a great comedy out there waiting to be made around that greatest of sports... DODGEBALL... and the cast for this film is actually quite strong and could have been the right ones to pull it off, but apparently -- while it is funny in parts, it just isn't consistent. Having said that, there's a long time till this movie is supposed to slam into screens, and with the right music, working on the pacing it sounds like and maybe even some reshoots - as the opening of the film seems to be the part that isn't working. That's the main thing that the earlier reviews we've had said, and so does this one. Hope it works out! Here ya go...
Harry,
Hey there. This is my first time at this movie reviewer kind of thing so bear with me.
So I saw an advance screening of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story at the worlds shittiest United Artists theater in Pasadena, CA tonight. Even with the horrible name, I had some hope that this would at least be a mildly entertaining flick, cause the cast included Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. And what I got was: a mildly entertaining flick.
First and foremost, the movie better not be done because they HAVE to work on the pacing of this movie. They spend way too long at the beginning introducing you to the characters. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for character development, but thats not what this is. We learn that Peter (Vince Vaughn) owns a gym called "Average Joe's Gym," and we get to meet the five wacky guys that work out there or work there. The first 15 minutes or so of the movie involve each of these 5 guys getting to basically introduce their over-the-top characters. We get Stephen Root playing a toned down version of his Office Space character, Alan Tudyk playing a guy who thinks he is a pirate, etc. We also meet White Goodman (Ben Stiller) who owns a very fancy and ridiculous Gym himself. Per usual in a Sports-Comedy (see: Happy Gilmore) White is trying to buy Peter's Gym and turn it into a parking lot, so Peter has to find a way to raise money. Root's character finds an ad for a dodgeball tournament in Obscure Sports Magazine and away they go. Now this whole setup takes far too long. Then out of nowhere they head for their qualifying match, in which they embarrass themselves but end up winning by disqualification.
What follows is a very stereotypical training session with some laughs and then a trip to the tournament in Vegas. The very crude coach is played by Rip Torn and it's a horrible character (a homeless guy who swears a ton.) So I sound bored writing this? Cause I should. Stiller is kinda funny playing the workout obsessed White. Vince Vaughn honestly seems out of place though. It feels as if he realized Old School was a pretty big hit so just took the first movie that he read that was somewhat like it. The first 40 minutes of the movie consist of very little dodgeball, and mostly lots of gags. Some of these are actually pretty funny But they are mixed in with gross out gags the likes of which I haven't laughed at since I was 14. These included (WARNING SPOILERS) an old man who drinks his own urine, Stiller masturbating using a slice or pizza and using pants where he can pump up the penile region, and many uses of "fag", "queer", etc. Really brilliant stuff.
So the second half of the movie is better. Once they finally play dodgeball. It mostly consists of people being violently hit with objects, mostly the dodgeball. I actually laughed a lot at this, although I am not sure if it was because I was dying for something to laugh at or because it was actually funny. I expected them to take the dodgeball joke further but nope, just a hundred hits to the face and balls, and lots of ball jokes. The whole tournament is very rushed, and there is lots of funny stuff they could have given us more of (like all of the team names which appeared to be funny but flashed on the screeen so quickly I could only read two or three). There is no plot twist that hasn't already been done in tons of other movies. Each member of the team gets a rushed plot of their own too, but I pretty much forgot them already 2 hours later.
Anyways, can't really recommend this one. I have to admit I am getting scared now that genuinely funny guys are taking on teen comedies like this. But oh well. Overall its basically a mildly funny, 5 joke movie. But the audience I was with seemed to love it so who knows, maybe I was just hoping for too much?
- A New Kind of American
