Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writer (WGA):

Rawson Marshall Thurber (written by)

Release Date:

18 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

Grab Life by the Balls (Australia & Europe)

Plot:

A group of misfits enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in order to save their cherished local gym from the onslaught of a corporate health fitness chain.

Plot Keywords:

Gym | Dodgeball | Tournament | Pirate | Cheerleader

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 12	7:00 PM	FX
Mon. July 13	12:01 AM	FX

Cast

Vince Vaughn	...	Peter La Fleur
Christine Taylor	...	Kate Veatch
Ben Stiller	...	White Goodman
Rip Torn	...	Patches O'Houlihan
Justin Long	...	Justin
Stephen Root	...	Gordon
Joel Moore	...	Owen (as Joel David Moore)
Chris Williams	...	Dwight
Alan Tudyk	...	Steve the Pirate
Missi Pyle	...	Fran
Jamal Duff	...	Me'Shell Jones (as Jamal E. Duff)
Gary Cole	...	Cotton McKnight
Jason Bateman	...	Pepper Brooks
Hank Azaria	...	Young Patches O'Houlihan
Al Kaplon	...	Tournament Referee

Also Known As:

Dodgeball (USA) (short title)
Dodgeball: The Movie (USA) (working title)
Underdogs (USA) (working title)
Untitled Dodgeball Movie (USA) (working title)
Untitled Dodgeball Project (USA) (working title)
Voll auf die Nüsse (Germany)
Pelotas en juego (Argentina) (video title) (Chile) [es]
Ballon chasseur - Une vraie histoire de sous-estimés (Canada: French title) [fr]
Boltsit pelissä - Dodgeball (Finland) [fi]
Com a Bola Toda (Brazil) [pt]
Cuestión de pelotas (Spain) [es]
Dodgeball (Greece) [el]
Dodgeball (Sweden) [sv]
Dodgeball: Mia istoria gia gademides (Greece) (TV title) [el]
Même pas mal! (Dodgeball) (France) [fr]
Palle al balzo - Dodgeball (Italy) [it]
Palliga allapoole vööd (Estonia) [et]
Piguwi jewang (South Korea) [ko]
Voll auf die Nüsse (Austria) [de]
Yakar top (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for rude and sexual humor, and language.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #40832) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:18SX | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Ireland:15PG (orginal rating) | South Korea:12 | UK:12 (DVD rating) | Sweden:7 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:10 | Canada:G (Québec) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (original rating) | USA:Unrated (DVD version)

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

After the credit, when the extremely obese White does a little dance to 'Kelis'' Milkshake song, it's a reference to viral video clip that circulated on the internet of an extremely large black woman doing the same dance.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where the team requests an overturn of the chancellor's decision for forfeiture, the crowd begins to chant "Let them play!" The audio doesn't match the hand gestures nor their mouth movements.

Quotes:

White Goodman: Do you smell that fitness? I do.

Movie Connections:

References Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Soundtrack:

Still in Me

Fun piece of camp comedy

What's funny about dodgeball? First, it's a movie about a group of non-competitive and somewhat eccentric adults playing dodgeball to save a not-very-impressive gym from the clutches of a competitive monopolistic chain gym. Second - Ben Stiller. Stiller is over-the-top and hilarious as the evil nemesis of average Joe Vince Vaughn. Vaughn - playing the slightly less than average Joe owner of Average Joe's gym, plays the perennial hard luck loser to the hilt. The supporting cast is terrific. Alan Tudyk, Rip Torn, Christine Taylor and Stephen Root are a great ensemble.

This is a rather extreme and rather Hollywood camp comedy. Although a lot of the humor is adult, the film is also refreshingly clean compared with the averaged 21st century comedy. Dodgeball also doubles as a spot-the-cameo film, since a whole host of odd celebrities pop up here and there throughout.

The first time I saw this film, I was charmed and I laughed a lot. Although the film remained entertaining, like most comedies it lost a bit of its luster in its second viewing.

Why only a 6 rating? Despite the campiness and good solid humor, this is still a very formulaic film and it does tend to vaporize after a viewing or two.

Strongly recommended - for one viewing!