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The Main Characters
--White Goodman (Ben Stiller) is the owner of Globo Gym. He is a ruthless competitor and has the intelligence of a monkey.
--Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) is the owner of Average Joe’s Gym. He is about to be bought out by White and Globo Gym but is urged to enter a dodgeball tournament to get the money he needs to hold off Globo Gym.
--Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor) is the lawyer assigned by the bank to the Globo Gym takeover of Average Joe’s. White gets her fired so he can date her but she’s disgusted with him and joins the Joe’s in the Dodgeball tournament due to her strong throwing arm (from her softball experience).
--Patches O’Houlihan (Rip Torn) is a legendary Dodgeball player and actually coaches the Average Joes. He is quite different than what he was before.
The Setting
I don’t know where it starts off but the tournament itself is in Las Vegas.
The Plot (1:31:57)
Average Joe’s is a gym where all the losers of society seem to attend. It is just like it says, Average Joe’s. Its owner, Peter La Fleur is down on his luck and in fact is informed by Kate that if he doesn’t come up with the rest of the mortgage payments ($50,000) he will lose the gym in 30 days, to Globo Gym. Globo Gym is owned and operated by White Goodman. White is not what you’d consider intelligent and often says the wrong things. He does have money though and intends to use Average Joe’s as a parking lot for their facility. The denizens of Average Joe’s vow to save the establishment and luckily, there is a Dodgeball tournament where the winner will get $50,000. So the Joe’s win a regional qualifier (through dubious means), and Dodgeball legend Patches O’Houlihan trains them the rest of the way. Of course, a showdown between the Joe’s and the Cobra’s is imminent and will the Joe’s triumph in the end?
Movie Review
This must be a different version than the one that’s been running on Cinemax. For instance, the scene with Justin Long as the cheerleader and the fat girl. She said in the other version how she isn’t wearing panties while here it’s completely bypassed. I guess it was the extended, unrated version while this is just the average version. Even so, it is a very fun movie. It doesn’t get too serious and is just a straight-up comedy. There are its funny laugh-out loud scenes and its more mellow moments. I thought Vince and Ben did an amazing job and Ben Stiller is clearly the star of this movie. His over the top performance as White Goodman was hysterical. The nods to other pop-culture references (Down goes Goodman) were also a wink to fans and overall it’s just a fun hour and a half movie that you can put on and just enjoy. I enjoyed it for what it was, a nice little comedy. **1/2.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Audio Commentary
Writer/Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn perform on this commentary. They talk about how White says 6 years ago and 600 pounds ago while the picture showed 1987, indicating the film took place in 1993. Vince talks about the film being a period piece. Ben Stiller also has a running gag where he chides the other two for mentioning non-Fox movies and how it is against Fox commentary policy. They also talk about Missi Pyle playing Fran, which was originally an acronym for a dodgeball sex robot.
2) Deleted and Extended Scenes (10:13)
All these deleted scenes include a commentary from Thurber that you can opt to listen too if you please. He basically describes each scene and why it was cut, usually for ‘pacing reasons.
---A) Cardio Cowboy (:43)
This is an exercise done at Globo Gym where everyone rides fake horses. It’s pretty gay, actually.
---B) Gordon asks for a divorce/White Goodman Speech (1:33)
After Gordon gets angry, he asks for a divorce from his mail-order bride. White later makes a speech how the Joe’s made the competition into a metaphor.
---C) Justin and Amber see Derek Before Cheerleading Finals (:26)
Derek is in a full body cast.
---D) The Dirty Sanchez (1:30)
This is after Gordon complains that White and his team didn’t win the regional. Later, Dwight stands up and White says he fired him from Globo Gym. He also makes fun of the entire team.
---E) Kate’s Porch (2:12)
This is an extended scene of White trying to seduce Kate on her porch. It’s an alternate scene with White’s usual creepy dialogue.
---F) Justin and Amber Kiss (1:23)
After the NCC’s and the performance by the Donkeys, Amber and Justin kiss.
---G) Shame Triangle (:59)
White gets put into the Shame Triangle after hitting Kate in the face after she’d been eliminated.
3) Alternate Ending (1:21)
You also have the option for this feature to hear Thurber’s commentary. The alternate ending is actually a downer and a crummy way to end a movie like this. Basically, White eliminated Peter in the finals as normal, but this one doesn’t have the referee overturning the decision due to White being over the line. So Globo Gym wins in the end and it goes right to the credits as White celebrates with his team. Thurber said that this was the original ending and Vince, Ben and he loved the ending but everyone who tested it, hated it. Thurber thought that artistically it was the best way to go. Unfortunately, this is a comedy and shouldn’t be ended like this. Thurber disagrees and it’s his movie so what do I know?
4) Featurettes
---A) Dodgeball Boot Camp: Training for Dodgeball (3:27)
This is the cast talking about their training for the movie. They show some of the training sessions. It seems like they actually worked hard in training. Vince had a funny comment about being thin and flabby.
---B) The Anatomy of a Hit (3:24)
Thurber talks about getting in the face being funny. He goes on to say that you only get a take or two before people start flinching. Ben Stiller said he tried not to flinch and he said that Justin Long was the best at it. Of course, the funniest places to get hit are the face and the groin.
---C) Justin Long: A Study in Ham & Cheese (3:33)
This is Justin talking to some of the other people going out for the cheerleading spots. They are all taller and much more muscular than him. It’s basically Justin talking to himself for 2 minutes. There is then an extended sequence of him getting hit with the dodgeballs and training and more of his physical comedy.
---D) Dodgeball: Go For The Gold (1:20)
This is Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn petitioning for Dodgeball to be in the Olympics.
5) Bloopers / Gag Reel (3:01)
This is a blooper/gag reel where the actors flub their lines and people cussing. You also get to see Ben Stiller break some cameras.
6) Trailers
---A) Theatrical Trailer A (2:14)
This trailer actually shows one of the deleted scenes (the cardio cowboy) and just gives a look at the storyline of the film, though none of the really funny scenes are in it.
---B) Theatrical Trailer B (2:27)
This is a much better trailer and showed some funnier scenes and gave a more apt description of the film.
---C) The Ringer Teaser Trailer (1:10)
This is a movie about normal guys pretending to be retarded so they can be in the Special Olympics and fix it.
---D) Arrested Development Trailer (:32)
I never watched this TV shows though I have heard good things about it.
7) DVD-ROM: Screenplay
It’s the screenplay on your DVD-ROM.
8) Inside Looks (1:47)
It’s an inside look on upcoming films from Fox. In this case we look at Elektra starring Jennifer Garner. The movie was alright, not as good as Daredevil, but it was watchable.
B) Audio/Video
The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround and the video anamorphic widescreen with a 2.35:1 ratio. The audio is pretty straight-forward, there wasn’t much use for the surrounds, and the video fit the picture well. The brights were bright and the colors showed clearly.
C) Liner Notes
There is a sheet that has an ADAA approved White Goodman Dodgeball on the front and the chapter listings on the back. There is another sheet for Malcolm in the Middle and a booklet of DVD’s and some promotion where you could save $10 bucks.
D) Easter Eggs
1) Fat White Goodman (:28)
From the main menu go to Special Features. Highlight Resume Film then hit right to highlight the cobra. Press enter to get White Goodman talk about Easter Eggs. Every time he snaps in the movie, another easter egg can be accessed. Here are the times in the movie he snaps his fingers:
---A) New Teammate (at: 12:24)
White introduces a new teammate of the Cobra’s; a short fat bald man who is his uncle.
---B) Nerdville (21:37)
White calls us a nerd for finding him.
---C) Globo Gym Video (44:00)
This is White’s video that plays at Globo Gym while people work out. It’s actually quite long.
---D) Justin with Girls (1:01:59)
This is Justin Long dancing around with the girls from the bikini car wash.
Overall Review
The DVD starts with a montage of Fox films that lasts 3:17. They show the Girl Next Door, Napoleon Dynamite, Taxi, and Pauly Shore is Dead (which was made specifically for the Dodgeball DVD). Overall, it’s a suprisingly good disc. The extras didn’t go too in depth but it was fun, just like the movie was. The DVD features were very short (for those with short attention spans I guess) so you may be unfilled by them. There were tons of deleted scenes and you can see the alternate ending as well. There was also a fun commentary as well. Nothing too groundbreaking here, and everything was just average so I’d just give this disc a mild recommendation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good movie and a good DVD, but nothing we haven’t seen before.
Overall Rating
6.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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