A thoughtful, pensive Oscar-caliber character study...

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2004)

Yea, right!
Well, finally, we've got Ben Stiller back in full-tilt character mode (i.e., Zoolander) where he belongs. Another Stiller-is-hapless-dork "There's Something about Mary" or "Meet the Parents" (oh wait, there will be another MTP...) and Ben needs to be put out to pasture.
He is hilarious and ridiculous (as he should be) as the megalomaniacal self-obsorbed/-obsessed workout junkie and owner of cross-street non-rival "Globogym" to lackadaisacal Vince Vaughn's "Average Joe's Gym" (actually, not a bad name for a gym if you think about it). Ben is custom-fit for this role.
Stiller of course keeps the nepotism machine running with his wife in a lead role. Still, she's mildly charming as the straight arrow to the over-the-top White Goodman (Stiller) and careless la Fleur (Vaughn).
The story/plot is hardly worth mentioning because it's been played out so many times before. Bunch of hapless losers go up against overwhelming odds to win back the gym. In fact, the whole setup is so wildly improbable that you don't really care.
I was a bit surprised to find out that "Dodgeball" the game is almost de-emphasized in the movie; it's mostly just a bunch of gratuitous shots to the head and groin.
The ridiculous gross-out humor is so utterly dismissable too--why even bother with the junk when there's enough decent comedy material here to easily float the movie to solid PG-level entertainment? Oh well, I suppose advice to eliminate the 13-20 y.o. frat boy demographic will fall on deaf ears.
In any case, "Dodgeball" is a funny, probably worthwhile rent when it hits the shelves and maybe even a funny enough movie to spend your money on in the theater.