Good silly, summer comedy

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2004)

I got to see a free preview screening of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and it did meet my expectations as a comedy. It had all the funny moments I was looking forward to in the previews (wrench-throwing, "Joani loves Chachi") plus a lot of great lines.
Vince Vaughan plays his usual smooth, quick wit self like he does in movies like Old School, even though I found it a little weird that he'd be the leader of the "underdogs" at Average Joe's gym, aside from the fact that a) he owns the gym and b) he's a unorganized slacker who's in debt to basically every bill he's ever owed.
Ben Stiller is over the top as the revolting White Goodman, and wife Christine Taylor adds some laughs with her repulsion towards him. As for the rest of the cast, Stephen Root does good as usual with the skittish man role, while Justin Long's character (aptly named Justin) is a clone to his role of Warren P. Cheswick on the now defunct TV show Ed. He gave me the most laughs of the cast anyway, but one wonders if he is going to be type cast in that role of the nerdy young man who makes you cringe when he talks to the most popular, prettiest cheerleader in school. (They might as well have named Amber "Jessica," a reference any Ed fans will get)
The two cast members that added a bit of silliness were Alan Tudyk as Steve the Pirate (the name says it all) and Rip Torn as the aged Patches O'Houlihan. Torn has some of the best lines of the whole movie, which makes me want to see it again just to catch them, because there were so many I can't remember them all.
A key scene to catch is the Dodgeball film from Justin's PE Class, made by Uber-American Films. I don't want to give anything away, so just make sure you look at for that one.
Overall I'd say go see this movie if you enjoy similar comedies like Old School. I give it a 7 out of 10.