DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition)
by Rawson Marshall Thurber
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Actor: Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Rip Torn, Vince VaughnDirector: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Brand: Fox
Producer: Ben Stiller
Cinematographer: Jerzy Zielinski
Writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Editor: Alan Baumgarten
Producer: Mary McLaglen
Producer: Rhoades Rader
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-07-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition)
DVD Review: "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball."
Summary: 4 Stars
Dodgeball...I remember it well, back from my grade school days...always aim for the face...or the `nads...and now there's actually league of adults out there playing it on a professional level? I'll never understand the absurdity of the regressive attitudes tied into taking the simplistic games we enjoyed playing when we were children and turning them into professional sporting events...I dunno, it kinda takes the magic out of being a kid...just my opinion, I suppose. Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Terry Tate, Office Linebacker), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) stars Vince Vaughn (Old School, Be Cool) and Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents, Starsky & Hutch). Also appearing is Stiller's wife Christine Taylor (The Brady Bunch Movie, The Wedding Singer), Rip Torn (The Beastmaster, Airplane II: The Sequel), Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers), Stephen Root ("NewsRadio", Office Space), Joel Moore (Art School Confidential), Chris Williams (Friday After Next), Alan Tudyk (I, Robot), Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development"), and Hank Azaria, the man behind the voice of Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu, Comic Book Guy, Cletus, Prof. Frinkon, to name a few, on the TV show The Simpsons.
As the movie begins we meet a character by the name of Peter La Fleur (Vaughn), owner and proprietor of the Average Joe's Gym. Business could certainly be better, but then Peter seems a soft touch, especially since he hasn't collected dues from his rather unique and distinctive membership (one guy thinks he's a pirate, and swears he'll pay off his debt once he remembers where he buried his treasure) in over a year. Anyway, seems the bank is in the process of foreclosure, prompted by Peter's competition in that of the highly narcissistic White Goodman (Stiller), who runs the high tech Globo Gym `Here at Globo Gym we're better than you, and we know it' across the street, having designs on acquiring the property, leveling it, and turning it into a auxiliary parking lot for his elite clientele. Peter learns from bank representative Kate Veatch (Taylor) that in order to save his gym he needs to raise $50,000 within 30 days, a seemingly insurmountable task, but opportunity comes in the form of a dodgeball tournement, one where the team that wins the finals, held in Las Vegas, is awarded a prize of the exact amount needed to save the gym. Goodman learns of Peter's plan, organizes his own team, including a scary uni-brow female ringer from some Soviet breakaway republic, to ensure his nefarious scheme doesn't fail, but Peter and his band of sorry, uncoordinated geeks, losers, and oddballs finds help in that of 7 time dodgeball all star Patches O'Houlihan (Torn), who signs on as their coach (utilizing some unusual techniques and also having some of the best lines)...will the boys prevail? Perhaps, but they're going to need some serious help, a little luck, and a whole lot of balls...
This movie is worth watching if nothing else than to see Justin Long getting clobbered in the face with a wrench...oh, I know it was a rubber prop, but still, it looked darn realistic, and elicited a strange sense of satisfaction from myself. I've got nothing against Justin Long as a person, but his character Warren Parker Cheswick on the television series `Ed' was just so darn annoying. The story is pretty formulaic in terms of a rag tag bunch of misfits rising above their own inadequacies to achieve a common goal, facing impossible odds and adversity every step of the way, but the difference is the various interesting characters. I thought all the actors did really well, but Stiller kinda needs to find a new schtick as I feel like I've seen his psycho, over-the-top characterization a number of times, with small variances. I actually like him better when he's downplaying his roles in a self-effacing manner as in There's Something About Mary (1998) or Meet the Parents (2000)...yeah, his character did get a little nutso in those movies, but it was brief, and within context, and worked better in small doses. I've never been a huge fan of Vaughn, ever since he appeared in that remake of Psycho (1998), but he fit in nicely here as the sort of smart alecky leader and wasn't relied on to carry the film as he got a lot of help from a good supporting cast. The direction was good, as Thurber kept things moving along at a good pace, although the film did slow down a bit in the third act, despite all the scenes of intense competition in terms of teams battling to get into the finals. In one of the commentaries, Thurber stated he actually left the film for a week, as the studio didn't like his original ending, which is included as a special feature. I saw it, and thought it was better than the one used, and I can only imagine the reactions of those who attended pre-screening...oh well, I guess you really can't fight the power. At least we get to see Christine Taylor kiss another woman, and that's gotta be worth something. Some of my favorite scenes involved the training tactics used by Rip Torn's character ("If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball."), which involved the scene, as I mentioned earlier, of Justin Long's character's face having an unfriendly encounter with a tool. All in all this was a pretty silly movie, but highly entertaining, especially if you like to see guys hit in the crotch with large, rubber balls (I know I do).
The widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1) picture on this DVD looks sharp, and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio comes through clearly. Special features include a commentary track with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan, and director-writer Rawson Marshall Thurber, nine deleted/extended scenes and an alternate ending with optional commentary by writer/director Thurber, footage (with introduction by Thurber) of the Dodgeball Dancers (Yowsa!), some entertaining featurettes titled `Dodgeball Boot Camp: Training for Dodgeball', `The Anatomy of a Hit', `Justin Long: A Study in Ham & Cheese', `Dodgeball: Go for the Gold', a blooper/gag reel, 2 theatrical trailers for the film, along with ones for Garden State (2004), and There's Something About Mary (1998), the screenplay on DVD-ROM, and a few, easy to find Easter eggs featuring Stiller in a fat suit poking fun at those who scour DVDs for hidden features.
Cookieman108
Also, keep you eyes peeled for a lot of great cameos, especially the coach of the German team...nice to see he's still getting work...
Description of DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition)
You'll dodge, duck, dip, dive. . . and laugh out loud watching Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller settle their differences in a winner-take-all dodgeball competition. Under the painful tutelage of legendary ADAA champ, Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn), Peter LaFleur (Vaughn) and his Average Joes take on the Purple Cobras, led by egomaniacal fitness guru, White Goodman (Stiller). It's an over-the-top underdog tale filled with hilarious sight gags and balls-out fun!How's this for impressive trivia: Dodgeball faced off against The Terminal in opening-weekend competition, and 29-year-old writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber aced Steven Spielberg by a score of $30 to $18.7 in box-office millions. That's no mean feat for a newcomer, but Thurber's lowbrow script and rapid-fire direction--along with a sublime cast of screen comedians--proved to be just what moviegoers were ravenous for: a consistently hilarious, patently formulaic romp in which the underdog owner of Average Joe's Gym (Vince Vaughan) faces foreclosure unless he can raise $50,000 in 30 days. The solution: A dodgeball tournament offering $50K to the winners, in which Vaughan and his nerdy clientele team up against the preening, abhorrently narcissistic owner (Ben Stiller) of Globo Gym, who's threatening a buy-out. That's it for story; any 5-year-old could follow it with brainpower to spare. But Thurber, Vaughan, Stiller, and their well-cast costars (including Stiller's off-screen wife, Christine Taylor) keep the big laughs coming for 96 nonsensical minutes. With spot-on cameos by champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong, David Hasselhoff, Hank Azaria, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner, and a crudely amusing coda for those who watch past the credits, Dodgeball is no masterpiece, but you can bet Spielberg was unexpectedly humbled by its popular appeal. --Jeff Shannon
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