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When it comes to over-the-top totally ridiculous comedy (think Zoolander or There’s Something About Mary or Meet the Parents), you can always count on Ben Stiller. Throw in Vince Vaughn (think Old School), a couple of guys from Office Space, and a kid who doesn’t mind taking a few hits in the head, and you’ve got yourself a completely ridiculous yet side-splitting comedy.
Vaughn plays Peter La Fleur, the owner of a less-than-successful gym (called Average Joe’s) that’s close to hitting rock-bottom. One day, bank employee Kate Veach (Christine Taylor) shows up at his door to inform him that the bank is foreclosing. Unless he can somehow get his hands on $50,000, his gym is going to be bought out (and turned into a parking lot) by mega-fitness-chain Globo Gym’s slimy owner, White Goodman (Stiller).
In order to keep the gym, La Fleur and his band of Average Joe’s faithfuls decide that their only hope is to win the national dodgeball championships. So with the help of dodgeball veteran Patches O’Houlihan (Rip Torn), they put a team together. But when Goodman discovers their plan, he puts together his own team of dodgeball thugs—determined to beat the Average Joe’s losers and take over the gym.
Okay, so the average-guy-versus-the-big-evil-corporation story has been done before—but it’s never been done like this. Dodgeball relies on stupid humor, innuendo, and a whole lot of physical comedy. And, surprisingly enough, it works. It really works. For some reason, watching poor Justin (Justin Long) getting hit in the head (in the words of Patches, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”) just doesn’t get old. Sure, I’ll admit that it was pretty juvenile of me to be laughing as hard as I was at repeated blows to the head, but I just couldn’t help it. And although there are a handful of scenes that I could have done without, the perfectly-timed comedy, the cast of lovable losers (like my personal favorite, Steve the Pirate), and the sheer goofiness of it all makes it worth watching at least once.
Highbrow entertainment it’s not, but Dodgeball is definitely good for a few hearty laughs. Pick up the DVD—and while you’re at it, don’t miss the special features
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