bob the moo wrote on IMDB:
Peter La Fleur runs a second rate gym that is populated by non-paying
members who are, shall we say, on the edge of society. Peter's relaxed
existence is made difficult by the fact that a large gym across the
road aims to shut him down. When the Average Joe gym receives its final
warning from the bank, they face a 30-day deadline to come up with
$50,000 or lose the gym to competitor White Goodman. After their
initial ideas fail, they discover that the national dodgeball contest
has a prize of that very amount with a little help from an
ex-champion, they set out to make it to the finals and save the day.
This film came to the UK on a wave of hype and praise but I was a
little wary because I knew that the style of humour that it has can be
very hit and miss. The film has the same plot that all these sorts of
sports movies have and you pretty much know where it is going from the
very start but, to be honest, how many people have come here for the
engaging story? No me neither! The humour is very silly and it will
not appeal to everyone but I found it pretty funny with the
out-of-the-blue stuff being the funniest; if you find it funny to hear
the line 'thank you Chuck Norris' said with sincerity then this will be
the film for you. It isn't as consistent as I would have liked because
it does have a couple of patches where there are more misses than hits
but generally I had a good hatful of laughs and, when not laughing I
still had a smile on my face. [ show more ]
Of course, like I said, this isn't for everybody and I'm sure many will
see it as a juvenile and it does seem to have been aimed at the young
male side of the market. The downside of this is that the majority of
the laughs are pretty basic and, as we are seeing too often recently,
the old audience draw of girls kissing is wheeled out yet again. The
casting also helps to a certain degree and do help a bit to cover the
basic humour. Vaughn is cool and relaxed and, although you wouldn't
call it 'acting' he is a likable lead. Stiller has a few dry moments
but generally his 70's fitness freak steals every scene he is in.
Taylor is pretty but you can't help feeling that the film is only using
her when, for no reason other than titillation she is revealed as
bisexual (with a girlfriend). Torn is funny if basic and Azaria is also
funny. The support cast is more about off the wall characters than good
writing or performances, but Long, Root, Moore, Tudyk and others are
all OK. Cameos from Hasselhoff, Norris, Shatner and Lance Armstrong are
all briefly amusing and, just like Best in Show, commentators Gary Cole
and Jason Bateman do spot on spoofs of low-grade sports commentators
and have lots of great lines between them.
Overall this is not the funniest film EVER, as some critics have
absurdly claimed it simply isn't consistent enough for that accolade
but it is still a pretty funny film if you are in the mood for silly
humour and some pretty basic jokes. The use of easy draws such as
female flesh, lesbianism and physical jokes is a bit of a downer when
you think about it but I doubt many will complain when it is on. The
cast generally do well and the material is funny and energetic enough
to do the job, producing a silly film that is hardly memorable but will
be fun while you're watching it. [ show less ]
Written on IMDB a long time ago.
