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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story [DVD] [2004]
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews![Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JNR1X3Q9L._SL160_.jpg) | Starring: ~ Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor Ben Stiller Rip Torn Justin Long List Price: £19.99 Our Price: £2.99 You Save: £17.00 (85%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours ![View more information about Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story [DVD] [2004] at Amazon](/i/c/view.gif) |
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 | Product Details: Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Region: 2 Number of Discs: 1 Format: Closed-captioned, Colour PAL Widescreen Rating:   Sales Rank: 2950 | | Look for similar DVDs by genre: | | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: Best Hollywood Comedy In Years (18 July 2010)Dodgeball is the best mainstream American comedy film in decades. Most of what Hollywood churns out is just not funny but Dodgeball hits the mark right in the face. Some of the physical comedy is reminiscent of the greats of yesteryear and in a different era Justin Long's performance of his character Justin would have been heralded as a masterpiece - brought to mind memories of Make Em Laugh. The storyline is entirely unchallenging and the characterisation of most of the extras is a little silly but the main characters and especially those on the side of evil - Ben Stiller's White Goodman and his bodyguard Me'Shell played by Jamal E Duff are terrific fun. The storyline set up of the body-fascist GloboGym taking on the drop-in centre that is Average Joe's gym might seem to be a particularly unsubtle dig at fitness worship and the high intensity lifestyle given the comparison with the values of friendship and support epitomised by Average Joe's but the two entities represent the two elements of this film. GloboGym is the comedy, it comes with added doses of stupidity to be the funny man to Vince Vaughn's romantic lead. The nostalgia for a slower pace of life and the desire to just relax and have a good time are only interesting when set against the hyper competitiveness of the expansionist GloboGym empire. As this is a mainstream Hollywood comedy it does of course come with ladles of teenage humour. Some of that might not quite hit the mark such as the lesbian joke payoff. Still, as someone defiantely too old and too married with kids to be a fan of such a genre Dodgeball works for me. The one liners work - "If you can dodge a wrench...", "Donde es la bibliothek", "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood..." work excellently and Ben Stiller delivers his lines with remarkable timing and excellence. Some might not like Stiller but here at least he is brilliant as the ferociously driven but cerebrally challenged villain. His sexual innuendo might not be especially funny but the character as a whole is terrific. The main female lead Christine Taylor is the intrusion of normal society into the chaotic world of Average Joe's. White Goodman chases her away with his crude behaviour and she is slowly lured by the charms of Joe's self-assured and reliable yet chaotic lifestyle. The story of Joe and Kate Veach is a simple romantic comedy tale and it does not satirise that genre but simply reflects it. It has enough charm for those of a romantic comedy persuasion to enjoy. In most comedies it is the side characters that determine success or failure and Dodgeball scores massively with Justin Long. Justin's physical performance is extraodinary with his ability to display pain in such a melodramatically humourous way. The story of his love for cheerleader Amber is a traditional teenage boy's fantasy of the beautiful girl and the geek but Low plays it so well with his awkward mannerisms and naivety making him by far the most sympathetic character of the story. The other sidekicks are mostly archetypes - Steve the Pirate is a bit weak but was presumably supposed to be a boy who never great up. The love story between gangly Owen and ugly Fran is rightly given little time to flourish and Gordon's failing marriage is probably a little too complex to be displayed in much more than the snippets it gets. Rip Torn as Patches O'Houlihan is brilliant. His cranky and somewhat perverted old man in a wheelchair deals out punishment hilariously and his insulting commentary works well as an exaggeration of the macho sports coach persona that permeates American society. Being in a wheelchair make him one of the outsiders just like the rest of the Joe's team but that just builds on the comedy of his having been a dodgeball star in the first place. The tournament itself is excellent. Sport is hard to reproduce on film but as this is a heavily slapstick influenced story the action blends in well. The other teams are readily identifiable stereotypes but then so were the teams in other great sports action films such as Rollerball with James Caan. What sells the tournament so well is the commentary team. The commentators are note perfect pastiches of American commentary blending the utter banalities with the ridiculous in the same pitch. Color Man Cotton McKnight's reference to the Dodgeball Dancers is a pithy encapsulation of the tension in American society between their love for the healthy female form such as cheerleaders and their utter prudishness. The Dancers are an interesting counterpoint much of the easy interpretation of the plot. The Dancers are without fail in extraordinary physical condition. To get to that level of toned fitness means they must be spending serious time in the gym - they are beautiful bodies and that is what GloboGym is about yet in the form of these athletic women it is something great but GloboGym are the bad guys in the film. The ending is a little anti-climactic as the sport is what works. The payoffs after the tournament is over are a little weak especially for Steve the Pirate and for the lesbian joke but many films struggle to end correctly. The Alternate Ending in the DVD extras would have been perfect. The rest of the extras are ok with the Justin Long section being the absolute highlight - hopefully he will get more opportunity to demonstrate his talents. The Dancers are a delicious guilty pleasure to enjoy but this isn't the deepest set of extras around. All-told Dodgeball is terrific. The funniest Hollywood film in many a long year is just about the only one worth displaying proudly as a moment of comedy magic. Just watchable (23 December 2009)Would probably be ok for young teenagers and below, Stiller is probably one of the least funny people I have seen So funny I bust a muscle...no really! (18 October 2009)The first time I watched this movie I had to turn it off - I was laughing so hard I was going blue. The second time I watched it I pulled a muscle from laughing. This movie is a real treat, it's very silly indeed and arrived at a time that I was telling all my friends that there isn't a movie out there that makes me laugh as much as the Life of Brian. If you watch even part of this movie - wait until the bag-of-wrenches training scene and make your mind up - if that doesn't make you giggle then someone must be chiselling your headstone as we speak. A super, super movie if you're in need of some sillyness in your life. Dodgeball (16 July 2009)It's good that this actually got on the PSP, a very amusing film with a great cast. Very funny (09 July 2009)This is the kind of movie you would buy and not just rent as you can watch from time to time over an over again and will still make you laugh. You are looking for a commedy? this is a very good one. |
