Smarter than it needs to be ...

Rating: 8/10 (23 June 2004)

I was pleasantly surprised by Dodgeball. It's not a gut-busting laugh riot, but you'll spend a lot of time chuckling and smiling, and you'll root for these underdogs to win the big game. Great cast, too, particularly Vince and Christine Taylor in the leads. And any movie that quotes "Bring It On" is doing something right in my book.
And while it's fairly low-brow, there's a surprising amount of intelligence in the screenplay. Plenty of jokes that don't bring down the house are worth chewing over later. By the time the movie reaches its big climax on ESPN 8 ("The Ocho"), you should be nicely won over.
Overall, a solid sports comedy. Check it out!