The Benchwarmers (2006)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Dennis Dugan

Writers (WGA):

Allen Covert (written by) &
Nick Swardson (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Get off the bench and get into the game.

Plot:

A trio of guys try and make up for missed opportunities in childhood by forming a three-player baseball team to compete against standard little league squads.

Plot Keywords:

Video Store | Nerd | Team | Baseball | Pizza

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Rob Schneider	...	Gus
David Spade	...	Richie
Jon Heder	...	Clark
Jon Lovitz	...	Mel
Craig Kilborn	...	Jerry
Molly Sims	...	Liz
Tim Meadows	...	Wayne
Nick Swardson	...	Howie
Erinn Bartlett	...	Salad Girl / Sarah
Amaury Nolasco	...	Carlos
Bill Romanowski	...	Karl
Sean Salisbury	...	Brad
Matt Weinberg	...	Kyle
John Farley	...	Swimmer Boy
Reggie Jackson	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Bankdrücker, Die (Germany) [de]
Benchwarmers ça chauffe sur le banc, Les (Canada: French title) [fr]
Calientabanquillos, Los (Spain) [es]
Ekdikisi ton loosers, I (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Scaldapanchina, Gli (Italy) [it]
Vaihtopenkin vakkarit (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and suggestive humor, and for language.

Runtime:

80 min | Philippines:75 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | Australia:PG | Ireland:12A | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42005) | Philippines:PG-13 | Hungary:14 | Finland:K-11 | Iceland:10 | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Chino Hills, California, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

After their first game, David Spade walks out of the field with the other two wearing his sunglasses. This is the only scene where "Richie" wears sunglasses, because the director didn't allow the character to wear them. However, in this scene, he had forgotten to take his glasses off after being backstage and the director thought that the take was so good, he didn't bother re-doing the take.

Goofs:

Continuity: Nelson is standing next to Mel when Clark, Gus, and Richie first go to his house. After the "something" is cleaned off his face, there is a shot of Mel with his hands on the table, then an over-the-shoulder shot of Nelson, where you see Mel's hand around Nelson's shoulders, then it cuts back to Mel's hands in front of him again. There is not enough time for him to move that quickly.

Quotes:

Gus: Man! I haven't even been on a baseball field in over 10 years.
Clark: I've never been on a baseball field, if I did, the kids in my neighborhood would spit loogies on my forehead.
Gus: Thats horrible, baseball's America's past time... thats like saying you've never had apple pie.
Gus: You've never had apple pie?
Clark: My mom said it would give me diarrhea.
Gus: That's ridiculous, Clark! You have to try it at least once!
Clark: Diarrhea?
Gus: No! Baseball!

Movie Connections:

References First Blood (1982)

Soundtrack:

Fire

You either love these kinds of movies, or you hate them.

I really think that's the only issue with this film. If you've been a fan of Adam Sandler's work (this is a Happy Madison production), you'll like this movie. Not only was it produced by Sandler, but it was co-written by one of his longtime buddies Allen Covert. If you go into this movie not knowing what to expect, that's your own fault. I know this movie won't be received well by critics, but when has ANYTHING that Sandler's done ever been? Ontop of that it features Jon Heder aka Napoleon Dynamite. To me, this was a huge added bonus. I love Sandler movies, and I loved Napoleon Dynamite. Many people feel Heder's a terrible actor, but I think his delivery is hysterical. I found myself laughing throughout this film, and thought it supplied Heder with more great one-liners that will be quoted for the next year. After saying that, some of you might turn your nose up at me and tell me that I wouldn't know what a good movie is, but I enjoy and cherish Casablanca, The Godfather: Part II, and Good Will Hunting as much as anybody, but forgive me if I like to enjoy a little mindless laughter at times. If you didn't like Billy Madison, The Hot Chick, or Napoleon Dynamite, you'll hate this movie, no doubt. But then why would you even go see it in the first place?