Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

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.

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writer:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Stars:

Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor, Ben Stiller

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 David Moore	...	Owen
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

Storyline

White Goodman is the owner and founder of Globo Gym, and would love nothing more than owning Average Joe's Gymnasium. Peter LaFleur doesn't want to lose his gym to Goodman, but can't find a way to get $50,000 in time. Peter and his gang of gym buddies think of ways to raise money, finally settling on winning a dodgeball tournament. White Goodman retaliates by creating his own dodgeball team to finish off Peter. Peter's team doesn't do too well, until legendary ADAA champ Patches O'Houlihan turns up ready to train them.

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Plot Keywords:

gym | dodgeball | tournament | ups | pirate | 

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Taglines:

Grab Life by the Balls (Australia & Europe)

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German

Release Date:

18 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dodgeball

Filming Locations:

1201 Santa Fe Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$96,947 (Hong Kong) (5 November 2004)

Gross:

$182,574 (Hong Kong) (19 November 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Mediastream Vierte Film GmbH & Co. Vermarktungs KG, Red Hour Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patton Oswalt did the Foley work (voice) for the scene where Ben Stiller is having his 'private time' "...with sour cream on top..." He also voices the video store clerk calling about the three overdue videos at the beginning of the film.

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Goofs

When Justin bends over to kiss Amber, the amount of her hair caught by his hand changes between shots.

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Quotes

White Goodman: Stick it in your ear, La Fleur. I wouldn't sell you your gym back for all of King Midas' silver. The gym is mine! So you can take your band of yellow-bellied losers and just crawl on outta here!
Peter La Fleur: You're right, White. I can't make you sell back my gym, so I'll just take your advice and invest in something. Say... the controlling stake of Globo Gym.
White Goodman: That's preposterous! I'd never allow it.
Kate Veatch: Globo Gym is a publicly-traded company, there's nothing you can do about it.
Peter La Fleur: So, I would control Globo Gym ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning of the credits, there's a commercial for Average Joe's, followed by a quick glimpse of White Goodman's fate.

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Connections

Referenced in Night at the Museum (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Donkey Competition Mix"
Mixed by Dowd Beal
Produced by Sounds Like That

User Reviews

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!