stupid but funny

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2004)

Dodgeball was funny, as long as you don't think too hard about it. However, if you want a better example of the turn-off-your-brain-and laugh movie go see Anchorman, as it is funnier, in my opinion. Ben Stiller is hilarious as the dense, insecure White Goodman, owner of GloboGym. Goodman is a cross between Stiller's earlier characters of Zoolander and the the evil nursing home attendant he played in Happy Gilmore. Vince Vaughn plays our hero, Peter LaFleur, a laid back slacker who owns and operates a "competing" gym called Average Joe's. He has to get $50,000 in 30 days or else he loses his gym to the obnoxious, nefarious Goodman. One of LaFleur's few clients, Gordon, comes up with the idea of competing in a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament where the grand prize is $50,000. This leads to countless shots of people getting hit in the crotch with dodgeballs, which as the producers of America's Funniest Home Videos, can attest is always funny. The tournament itself is funny, and appears on ESPN 8 or "The Ocho" as it is nicknamed. Gary Cole and Jason Bateman hilariously play the commentators. As far as Jason Bateman's character goes, think of a younger version of Fred Willard's character in Best in Show, and you will get the idea. The cameos are funny and include William Shatner, David Hasselhoff, Chuck Norris, and the funniest one of all, Lance Armstrong. All in all it was funny, but could have been better. During the training montage, it would have been so much better, if they would have played a cheesy 80's style heavy metal song. obviously, when you go see a movie like Dodgeball, you don't expect Oscar material, but as long as you just don't think too hard about how stupid it is, it is definitely worth killing about an hour and a half. I give it 7 out of 10