If anything, please dodge this movie

Rating: Null/10 (15 December 2004)

I played a lot of dodgeball when I was in school and at day camp and I remember how much fun it was. This movie wasn't any fun. I had high hopes for it because I think Vince Vaughn is very good at picking his material and I figured watching people getting smacked in the face with a red gym ball should be good for a few laughs. It has a few laughs, but that's about it. Most of the film is un-watchable. Ben Stiller's role as an over testosterone gym owner wears very thin after a few minutes and becomes annoying after that. His character got on my nerves in a hurry. A lot of the humor I didn't find all very funny and I thought most of it was predictable. What I did like was Rip Torn as Patches, a sort of former dodgeball legend, who is now in a wheelchair barking orders like a drill sergeant. He has a very funny bit where he is tossing wrenches at his team and then forcing them to dodge traffic on a busy highway. Most of them get hit by a car. It pretty much ends there for me as the laughs go. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare, but I was hoping for something better than this. (*1/2)