September 6, 2009: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
I can’t believe that Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is 5 years old now. Looking back, it precedes the bulk of the Judd Apatow comedy craziness of the past several years but proves itself a solid example in a genre which was just beginning to reinvent itself after a long dormancy since the 1980s. This is ridiculous, exaggerated, high-concept comedy that’s just tasteless enough to be lowbrow, and just smart enough to be highbrow, both at the same time. Big names abound, and the supporting players are a who’s who of modern-day comic character actors. This is fun stuff.
The plot of Dodgeball follows a simple formula, and the writing and performances are what really bring it to life. Vince Vaughn plays a small-time fitness club owner, whose clientele is decidedly lower tier, comprising the geeks and losers and crazies of the world. His main competitor, Ben Stiller, operates a national chain of fitness clubs which cater more specifically to the Beautiful People, though Stiller’s past, more or less paralleling that of Richard Simmons, still haunts him. When Vaughn’s gym ownership is in peril because he runs out of cash, he and his members try to win a bunch of money playing Dodgeball. They enlist the help of a legendary 1960s dodgeball player, played in the present day by Rip Torn, and he whips them into shape, leading to the final showdown at the dodgeball national competition against , you guessed it, Stiller’s team. I won’t spoil this complex and nuanced story by telling you who wins. Of course, there’s also a love interest, a lawyer working for Stiller who ends up being won over to Vaughn’s side, played by Christine Taylor, Stiller’s real-life wife.
This is a good background movie, and true to form, I only half-watched it while cleaning up my basement. It provided a nice change of tone after A History of Violence. This is a silly story, it knows not to take itself too seriously, and this is exactly the right amount of Ben Stiller to have in a movie.
As is commonly seen today, Dodgeball happens to be a perfect example of the small world of comedy. Vince Vaughn doesn’t seem to have a particular entourage attached to him aside from Jon Favreau, who is absent here, but we see representation from Mike Judge’s typical crew in Stephen Root’s nerdy gym member and Gary Cole’s earnest commentator on ESPN 8 “The Ocho”. This is an early example of the resurgence of Jason Bateman after Arrested Development brought him back to the spotlight (Stiller and Taylor also appeared on that show). Rip Torn has long been known as a courageous and versatile dramatic actor but really showed his comedy chops in The Larry Sanders Show back in the 1990s, and here he brings much-needed weight to the patriarch Patches O’Houlihan, the most legendary dodgeball player of all time and the key to Vaughn’s team’s strength, as they find the aging athlete and he agrees to train the team. Justin Long, as another nerdy entry on Vaughn’s team, spans the Apatow universe as well as those of Judge, Vaughn, and Kevin Smith, with dramatic acting sprinkled in there as well. Hank Azaria is a legend after 20 years on The Simpsons and has a cameo as young Patches O’Houlihan in an old scratchy black-and-white Dodgeball promotional film, laying out the rules and the essentially barbaric nature of the game.
Seeing Rip Torn throw an assortment of wrenches at his trainees, proclaiming from his wheelchair that “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball”, is priceless. This movie knows what it is, and is content with that.
Smart and stupid comedy in one.
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