Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Blu-ray)

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Vince Vaughn is the actor that is most like everybody´s beer drinking buddy. He is the guy that everybody wants to hang out with. Ben Stiller has been in a ton of comedies and is one of the more bankable comedic actors. The two men have both had very good careers, but their comedy and typically two very different tastes and where Vaughn´s comedy is a little more ´realistic´ in tone, whereas Stiller lands in slapstick roles where a lot of his comedy is surrounded in absurd situations. They come together for the Rawson Marshall Thurber comedy "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and help the writer and director of the cult Reebok short "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker" make the leap from commercials to the big screen. With Thurber being a Hollywood rookie and Vaughn and Stiller being to very different but bankable stars, "Dodgeball" was destined to be a huge success or a massive failure.

To capitalize on the different personas of the two different leading men, Vaughn and Stiller are portrayed as rivals that each have traits reminiscent of the way each actor is portrayed. Vaughn has always been an ´everyman´ kind of actor in Hollywood that the average Joe can relate to. So in "Dodgeball" Vaughn is cast as Peter LaFleur, the owner of Average Joe´s gym. He lets anybody who wants to walk through his doors exercise or hang out in the gym and typically doesn´t even care to collect membership fees. Ben Stiller is a larger than life character in most of his films and his bigger persona is embodied as White Goodman, a entrepreneur who combines technology with image to create a powerhouse franchise where his image is more important that those that visit his gyms.

Goodman´s gym Globo-Gym is looking to buy out Average Joes when Peter begins to have financial problems. The foreclosure attorney Kate (Christine Taylor) meets with Peter and announces that Average Joes will be closed if he cannot earn $50,000 in a month. To make the money to save his gym, Gordon ("Office Space" actor Stephen Root) mentions a dodgeball competition that conveniently pays out $50,000 to the winning team. Peter and Gordon create a team along with other gym regulars Steve (Alan Tudyk) and Justin (Justin Long). They are approached by legendary dodgeball hero Patches O´Houlihan (Rip Torn), who is not wheelchair bound, and the former world champion begins to train Peter and his team by throwing wrenches and other unusual means.

The story continues and Goodman enrolls his own team into the tournament that includes oversized and very muscular competitors that makes Average Joes look like the biggest underdogs in the history of competitive sports. The film´s full title contains "a True Underdog Story" and this becomes your typical underdog story where the film´s heroes overcome insane odds to win the day. Of course, there is a little twist along the way and the film introduces cameos by Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, Jason Bateman and the amazing and timeless William Shatner. There is a love story between the characters of Kate and Peter that plays out nicely and one of the stronger elements in the film is the chemistry between Vaughn and Taylor. Before the credits roll, Average Joes is saved, but there are some twists before the end.

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" is a funny film that smartly uses its two lead characters strengths to its advantage and first time director Rawson Marshall Thurber does a great job of using Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller perfectly. Each actor has a strong fan base, but each have made different styles of comedy. Vaughn has always been perceived as an "Average Joe" and he is perfect in the role of Peter. Stiller has always been a ´bigger´ figure and hams it up nicely as White Goodman. The story itself is absurd and the movie is more in line with Stiller´s other features, but the way in which Vaughn is used makes him perfectly suited for this film. You certainly could never insert Vaughn into the role played by Stiller and Stiller has never seemed as accessible as Vaughn in portraying the layman. This is a comedy where the actors cast are the glue that binds and "Dodgeball" would never have broken $100 million without both Vaughn and Stiller.

There are some comedy missteps in the film, but most of the gags thrown at the audience are very funny. I absolutely loved Rip Torn as Patch O´Houlihan. Watching his absolutely demolish the hapless Average Joe faithful to train them to be better dodgeball players was comedy gold. The training scenes were some of the funnier moments in the film. Watching Average Joe´s lose to Girl Scouts and some of the other humorous in-game segments were also nicely done although I felt the level of comedy began to drop once the main tournament started. There were still funny moments to be found here and having cult icons William Shatner and Chuck Norris is guaranteed to make any film better. How can you not love Shatner?

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" is a very funny comedy that succeeds because of its stars. I laughed throughout the entire film and while it was a little uneven at times, I was never bored during its slim hour and a half running time. The film is the over-the-top story and comedy that Ben Stiller is known for, but having Vince Vaughn as the straight man to Stiller´s slapstick works very well. The rest of the cast is pretty good and I enjoy Stephen Root. When I had first seen previews for "Dodgeball," I was tentative towards the film. I am by far more of a fan of Vince Vaughn and was interested to see his involvement and figured a comedy centered around the playground sport of dodgeball had to be funny, but I was unsure of how having both Stiller and Vaughn in the film would work. Vaughn had bit parts in the Ben Stiller films "Zoolander" and "Starsky & Hutch," but I was skeptical on how they would work together. Thankfully, it works well and "Dodgeball" is my second favorite Ben Stiller movie behind "Mystery Men."