User reviews

Once every few years, you're presented to a slapstick comedy so hilarious you instantly forget how LOW this form of entertainment actually is. I can't give a scientific explanation to state how come it's funny to see someone (preferably wearing glasses) getting hit in the face by a ball…it just is. Dodgeball is vulgar, crude and without substance…but your stomach will hurt from laughing and don't we all need that from time to time? In case you really want to defend this film, you can always say it features tons of unsubtle criticism towards modern American image of exaggerated health-obsession. Ben Stiller's character is the personification of the obnoxious fitness guru: 'We're better than you, and we know it'. Opposed to him, there's Vince Vaughn as the chilled-minded, lovable guy who owns a fitness center for the underdeveloped wimps. Due to his financial situation, he risks losing his gym to Stiller except if he and his teams of misfits manage to win the world-famous dodgeball tournament. The film is a series of cheap chuckles, eccentric characters and outrageous one-liners. It's pretty funny to hear Stiller yell out lines like: 'You're a skid mark on the underpants of society'. Or the always-amusing Rip Torn encouraging his team with the words: 'you're as useful as a cock-flavored lollipop'. The acting is great as it can be with Ben Stiller and Rip Torn who go delightfully over the top and lots of enthusiast cameos (Chuck Norris, David Hasselhof, William Shatner and even Lance Armstrong). It sure isn't Schindler's List but Dodgball is great entertainment and stress releasing.

Go and see it. It's one of the best comedies of the year and a lot funnier than it should be given the flimsy premise. Ben Stiller has a big 'Globo' health club worth millions (it even includes cosmetic surgery facilities - they know that 'fatness is genetic, like baldness or necrophilia'). The lovely Christine Taylor is his lawyer, charged with getting rid of the 'Average Joe' gym across the road so they can build a parking lot for Globo customers. She takes a liking to the 'underdog' owner of the Average Joe gym though, and helps them in their plan to win a Dodgeball contest in order to get the money they owe. Dodgeball is an 'obscure' sport that mostly consists of throwing a ball to hit your opponent (look it up on the Net - Dodgeball fans take it quite seriously!) Even when I describe the film, I think 'it sounds awful' - I probably would have avoided it if it hadn't been recommended so highly - and I recommend you stay till the *very end* of the credits for one of the best scenes (which also takes a swipe at the US film-making industry!)

Silly metaphor, I know. The film "Dodgeball: A true underdog story" while maybe be offensive at times, the film really brings it back up to place with the humor. You really can't help but laugh at the movie a couple times. Sort of like "Zoolander", another great flick with Ben Stiller, it's so stupid you've gotta love it. I would recommend this film for a good laugh. As of movie of the year or comedy of the year, no, this is not the film. But it was a good one to watch. A true film for any Ben Stiller fan, that's for sure. I will warn though, if you get offended easily, this maybe not the film for you.

8/10

I just watched Dodgeball last night and I can't remember laughing so hard at a movie in years, from Vince Vaughn finally being cast as a person you can like to Rip Torn who is always at his best as the sarcastic coach who is full of colorful one-liners, and I didn't start out as a Ben Stiller Fan, but his movies have seriously picked up in quality lately

From the supporting cast and the cameo's everyone does a top notch job, Gary Cole is especially amusing as the sports announcer and his always missing the point sidekick, The Dim bulb Chris Klein type Dimwit on Vince Vaughns team adds to the hilarity, and Missy Pyle(What A Babe!!)

Forget what all the Negativity from the other reviewers state, this is a comedy, a comedy is meant to entertain, it is not Casablanca or the Producers, but it is not meant to be

(****) Out Of (****)

When average Joe's gym, run by Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) is under threat of take over by White Goodman (Ben Stiller), La Fleur and his gym members must raise $50,000 to save it. The only way to do it is Dodge Ball, and with the help of a seasoned professional, maybe they have a chance.

Great characters, and a hilarious script make dodge ball a Hit, Ben Stiller's and Rip Torn's characters are particularly well written, but none of the characters fail to get a laugh, and there is a good blend of them on show.

Definitely worth a look for anyone who fancies a laugh. It's not a classic, but it doesn't fail to entertain with it's slapstick style.

7/10

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!

I don't know why this movie takes such a bashing. I've seen some people complain that elements of it are offensive. But come on, the humour is clearly tongue in cheek.

Is it childish and immature? Absolutely. It's also a hilarious way to lose 90 minutes if you've had a rough or stressful day.

If you're analysing every detail in this movie to look for things to criticise, then you're doing it wrong.

Dodgeball is one of those comedies that does a perfectly decent job of entertaining you but is unlikely to blow you away.

There are some good characters with a very solid cast. Ben Stiller always puts in a shift, particularly when he has an outrageous oddball character play like he does here. Vince Vaughn is always watchable if rarely amazing. Christine Taylor was a great addition to the cast

The plot is nice and lighthearted and fun, although it does have some totally unnecessary tangents (a pointless teen romance and an unfunny pirate being the main two). Despite never being overly funny it is entertaining, with an entirely predictable story that is pretty safe. Although it is a tad dated in parts.

This is one of many comedies from the early noughties era that I'm glad are out there, because they always have a great cast and a distinctive comedy style that has a certain charm, but they rarely blow me away. A fun watch but nothing more.

There was the 'Rat Pack', the 'brat pack'. Now there is the 'Frat pack'(made it up on the spot). The 'Frat Pack' consist of Ben Stiller, Will Farrell, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaugn, and some of their friends. These actors have their hold on Hollywood and they basically can do most comedy movies they want because they have can make a good amount of money doing these movies. Other Frat Pack movies include 'Anchor Man', 'Starsky and Hutch', and Old School'. I'm not saying these movies are terrible or i don't like the actors. It annoys me seeing the same actors playing the same comedic parts and the studio expects that just their presence should make us laugh.

I'm not trying to insult fraternities. I call them the frat pack because they appeal more to those guys.

I always enjoy a good comedy, but if the next 10 years is going to be comedy movies like this then i might just watch reruns of 'The Simpsons' or 'Family Guy' for comedy.

The game of dodgeball is humorous but it doesn't mean you should make a movie out of it. If anything, you should only use this story within an episode of a t.v. show (ex: South Park) instead of dragging two hours of this nonsense.

We are supposed to laugh whenever we see Ben Stiller while he plays one of his 'crazy' characters. He looks funny but his character gets real annoying real fast. I liked Stiller at one point but after 'Zoolander' and this movie, I'm starting to worry about his future (granted he's making more money now compared to when he was funny). We're also supposed to like Vince Vaugn but he plays the same 'takes no gruff' character. The pirate character was the most annoying of the cast. 'HA, HA, a man dressed up as a pirate in a gym. Excuse me while I change my pants'.

This story plays out the same comedic formula as most mindless comedies. I guess when you do a movie about dodgeball then you can't really do too much with it.

A lot of people apparently have seen this movie and liked it. So if you like pointless comedy that has no intelligence behind it then you will enjoy this movie. If you like a plot and some intelligence in a comedy movie then stay away from this one.

I'll probably skip the possible sequel 'Kickball', but from how much money they made from this one, I'm sure they're planning the sequel right now.

I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in years. That's all I can really say about this movie. It's stupid, sure, but it's so hilarious, you don't care.

I could not stop laughing. There are so many jokes in this movie, you don't even have a chance to rest before the next one comes along.

Ben Stiller as the "evil" White Goodman -- it's a classic character that should go down in the annals of comedy greatness. The announcers for ESPN 8 "The Ocho" (Gary Cole and Jason Bateman) had me rolling in the aisles. Stephen Root is a comic genius as well, and Alan Tudyk as the random pirate (why? who cares!) was pure gold.

Oh, and make sure you stay till the end of the credits... Ben Stiller does a routine that's absolutely hysterical.

Peter La Fleur runs a second rate gym that is populated by non-paying members who are, shall we say, on the edge of society. Peter's relaxed existence is made difficult by the fact that a large gym across the road aims to shut him down. When the Average Joe gym receives its final warning from the bank, they face a 30-day deadline to come up with $50,000 or lose the gym to competitor White Goodman. After their initial ideas fail, they discover that the national dodgeball contest has a prize of that very amount – with a little help from an ex-champion, they set out to make it to the finals and save the day.

This film came to the UK on a wave of hype and praise but I was a little wary because I knew that the style of humour that it has can be very hit and miss. The film has the same plot that all these sorts of sports movies have and you pretty much know where it is going from the very start but, to be honest, how many people have come here for the engaging story? No – me neither! The humour is very silly and it will not appeal to everyone but I found it pretty funny with the out-of-the-blue stuff being the funniest; if you find it funny to hear the line 'thank you Chuck Norris' said with sincerity then this will be the film for you. It isn't as consistent as I would have liked because it does have a couple of patches where there are more misses than hits but generally I had a good hatful of laughs and, when not laughing I still had a smile on my face.

Of course, like I said, this isn't for everybody and I'm sure many will see it as a juvenile – and it does seem to have been aimed at the young male side of the market. The downside of this is that the majority of the laughs are pretty basic and, as we are seeing too often recently, the old audience draw of girls kissing is wheeled out yet again. The casting also helps to a certain degree and do help a bit to cover the basic humour. Vaughn is cool and relaxed and, although you wouldn't call it 'acting' he is a likable lead. Stiller has a few dry moments but generally his 70's fitness freak steals every scene he is in. Taylor is pretty but you can't help feeling that the film is only using her when, for no reason other than titillation she is revealed as bisexual (with a girlfriend). Torn is funny if basic and Azaria is also funny. The support cast is more about off the wall characters than good writing or performances, but Long, Root, Moore, Tudyk and others are all OK. Cameos from Hasselhoff, Norris, Shatner and Lance Armstrong are all briefly amusing and, just like Best in Show, commentators Gary Cole and Jason Bateman do spot on spoofs of low-grade sports commentators and have lots of great lines between them.

Overall this is not the funniest film EVER, as some critics have absurdly claimed – it simply isn't consistent enough for that accolade but it is still a pretty funny film if you are in the mood for silly humour and some pretty basic jokes. The use of easy draws such as female flesh, lesbianism and physical jokes is a bit of a downer when you think about it but I doubt many will complain when it is on. The cast generally do well and the material is funny and energetic enough to do the job, producing a silly film that is hardly memorable but will be fun while you're watching it.

Such a simple yet somehow so original and creative comedy. It's absolutely hysterically without forcing it or overdoing it while still maintaining a good story line. The actors are all great and complement each other with Vince and Ben being at their absolute best. The cameo characters were also all great little add ins as well. The writing for this was unreal funny and there as so many good and recognizable quotes from this. This truly is one of the best comedy movies I have ever seen and it still holds up today all these years later. Absolutely recommend watching this movie over and over again.

What more do you want in a comedy? It was enjoyable, made me laugh out loud a few times, left me feeling inspired and happy. Glad I watched this one.

Picked this up on DVD for £3 ($6) - didn't know anything about it We thought it one of the funniest films we've seen for some time. Thought I'd check out the rating and was surprised how low (6.6) it was. Then checked out some of the "Hated It" comments to see why this could be I guess that a lot of people find this film offensive, with stereotypical attitudes - like how a bisexual woman could kiss both a man and a woman (an extraordinary observation). Or that it was unfair to poke fun at someone who spent all his waking hours dressed up as pirate. I think that comment came from a member of the Long John Silver Alliance.

Lighten up! Comedy - like any other artistic endeavour is subjective - all I can say is that I laughed and found that at many points the jokes were coming faster than I could process them - always a good sign.

A good combination of slapstick humour and smart-ass comments delivered at a rapid pace And an ever-popular theme: will the underdogs triumph? Watch it and find out

Well, here is yet another sleazy PG-13 modern-day comedy that also has genuinely funny characters and scenes. For those of us who care it's a shame we have have to put up with the bad stuff if you want laughs out of about any comedy made in the last 30 years....and this is a prime example. By the way, this is an "R" all the way, if any concerned parents are reading this. You need a computer to add up all the sex jokes in here and the last 30 minutes are really, really stupid. Both of those are typical, too. Yet, most of my friends said this was hilarious and to check the film out.

Prior to the typically-dumb ending are some very funny moments, mostly provided by Ben Stiller's over-the-top fitness guru, "White Goodman," a man who runs an ultra high-tech fitness center. Vince Vaughan plays the likable good guy small-gym owner who is in competition with Stiller, sort of like David against Goliath, the nerds against the jocks.....another formula that is so often used these days in comedies because it's always fun to see the little guy knock off the arrogant big jerk. Christine Taylor is the token young "hottie" that you also see in these kind of pictures: skinny, pretty, but not exactly the wholesome type.

Rip Torn almost steals the show as "Patches O'Houlihan," the old man who helps coach the underdog volleyball team using some unorthodox methods. I laugh every time I think of him. In fact, "Patches" puts the added edge in this film to elevate it slightly above a "fair" rating.

A lot of the humor in here is the improbableness of the whole story. Of course, it's an insult to anyone's intelligence but that's part of the charm and one does get a decent amount of laughs for an hour-and-half, so it's not all bad.

This film is not intended to be a great work of art and no one will win an Oscar for it because it is just a film packed full of laughs that leaves you smiling afterwards - that is, with the exception of the few posters here bereft of any sense of humour.

I am not a great Ben Stiller fan - generally, I find him rather unfunny but he scores highly in this film and Vince Vaughn also deserves recognition among others for fine comedic timing.

The guest appearances also add to the general fun and the wheelchair-bound coach, played by Rip Torn is just a hoot.

This is definitely one to hire from your local rental shop - me, I'm going to buy the DVD!

Well what can I say? Hugely enjoyable, silly yes but manages to be enjoyable. Yes with a predictable story that occasionally loses its lustre and some flimsy gags and a number of clichés. But what makes it watchable is the hilarious script, the good-natured spirit of the film, likable and relateable characters and fun performances from Vince Vaughan(really cool in one of his better movies- and performances as well), Ben Stiller, Rip Torn and Hank Azaria with an amusing cameo from David Hasselhoff. The direction is also good, and the film is nice to look at with a cool soundtrack. Overall, not perfect but watchable and funny. 7/10 Bethany Cox

DODGEBALL

RATING = 3/10. A group of losers try to save their gym through a dodgeball tournament. The laughs are all based around someone getting hit extremely hard through physical humor. The joke gets very old, very fast. If you enjoy watching someone in pain, you'll enjoy this movie.

The GOOD. Ben Stiller's character is funny to look at. A creative idea for a story. The mock ESPN color commentators reminded me of the great scenes from "Best in Show." Some creative cameos to make you smile.

The BAD. Throw the ball; hit someone in a painful place; REPEAT. (Gets old fast.) The pirate character concept was quite lame.