Dodge Stiller! Dodge!

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2005)

Ben Stiller is without doubt one of the most popular and finest actors on the comedy side these days; together with Owen Wilson, Will Ferrel and Vince Caughn they seem to have a brought a small revolution into typical Hollywood laughs.
DODGEBALL features neither Ferrel or Wilson; but it's got Stiller in his ace and Vaughn with his clothes on, not revealing his body for sure. This is a comedy, it's very simple. The laughs come tight and in fine spirit they're filled with irony, childish comments and stupidity, and DODGEBALL makes it all very viewable. Stiller playing the top-trained White Goodman who's goal is to be the best, and he will do everything to bring the next-door training house Average Joe's down.
David Hasselhoof has a great cameo, same with Chuck Norris (although he ain't that a laugh), DODGEBALL is packed with the perfect twist between true and pure pathetic comedy and smart belly laughs, and that keeps the movie rolling although it's storyline is surely not that good of a script. Dozens of fine dialogs and entertainment. But; the movie stumbles when it gets to the part of being hilarious. It never really scores that much points on the "laughing out loud" part, maybe because it's a bit too busy about keeping it all so glossy stupid and ridiculous that it doesn't make time for such.
DODGEBALL is a very worthy Stiller movie, and does almost everything right on it's scale. Better than Zoolander it is, but not as good as Starsky & Hutch. STARS: 4/5