Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

I would previously have rated the likelihood of a film based on the playground game of dodgeball, as pretty slim; probably on a par with the success of Tiddlywinks  The Movie. But this film, as wacky as it may sound, is actually a very engaging tale. Peter La Fleur (Vaughn) is the lazy owner of Average Joe's a run down dump of a gym whose only members are, to put it nicely, the misfits of society. Across the road lies Globo Gym, a multi-million-dollar corporate homage to lycra and vanity; their subtle slogan being 'We're better than you and we know it.'

When Globo Gym's owner, White Goodman (Stiller), decides to buy out Average Joe's in order to build a car-park, La Fleur finds himself with 30 days in which to raise $50,000 to save his business. His members may be socially inept (one believes himself to be a pirate) but they're certainly loyal, and they hatch a plan to secure the cash. They decide to enter a dodgeball tournament in an attempt to scoop the prize money at the Las Vegas finals. Their main problem is that nobody has the faintest idea how to actually play the game. They recruit dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan (Torn) as their coach, a man with some innovative training methods  'if
you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball' and set to work on some serious practice. When White hears about their plans he forms a team of his own, recruiting
players with such names as Laser and Blade, to provide some fierce competition for the Average Joe's posse.

Stiller is fantastic as the self obsessed White, clad in a spandex leotard complete with inflatable crotch. The performance is exaggerated to the point of complete silliness but it proves a great source of mindless laughs. Vaughn has some brilliantly cutting one-liners and the script allows for the two actors to play off each others' comedy strengths. This is a genuinely endearing comedy that leaves me bewildered as to why the captivating game of dodgeball doesn't feature more prominently in the sporting calendar!

Bethan Way