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82
Dark Knight, The
35
Death Race
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
49
Hancock
34
Happening, The
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71
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58
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61
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65
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79
Iron Man
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
53
Longshots, The
24
Love Guru, The
51
Mamma Mia!
43
Meet Dave
33
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
64
Pineapple Express
52
Rocker, The
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
50
Step Brothers
47
Swing Vote
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
House Bunny, The
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Longshots, The
52
Rocker, The
51
Mamma Mia!
50
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Death Race
34
Happening, The
33
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
24
Love Guru, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
39
America the Beautiful
66
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73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
xx
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61
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55
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
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49
Children of Huang Shi, The
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
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86
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62
Elegy
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
64
Fall, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
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62
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73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
58
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25
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Jellyfish
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Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
50
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
61
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
90
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
80
Order of Myths, The
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
72
Priceless
61
Red
71
Roman de gare
78
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51
Savage Grace
52
Sixty Six
81
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56
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71
To the Limit
71
Transsiberian
81
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83
U2 3D
86
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79
Visitor, The
61
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53
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
XXY
75
Young@Heart
90
Momma's Man
89
Man on Wire
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Frozen River
81
Trouble the Water
81
Tell No One
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Mongol
73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Priceless
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Transsiberian
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
67
Jellyfish
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
XXY
64
Fall, The
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Elegy
62
Kabluey
62
Girls Rock!
62
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Baghead
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
58
Hamlet 2
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Beautiful Losers
55
Bra Boys
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
53
What We Do Is Secret
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Sixty Six
51
Savage Grace
50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
44
Henry Poole is Here
39
America the Beautiful
25
Hell Ride
xx
I Served the King of England
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for rude and sexual humor, and language
Starring
Vince Vaughn,
Christine Taylor,
Ben Stiller,
Rip Torn,
Justin Long,
Stephen Root,
Joel Moore,
and
Chris Williams
A group of friends from Average Joe's agrees to compete in a high-stakes dodgeball competition in Las Vegas in an attempt to save their gym from takeover by the national chain Globo Gym.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Rawson Marshall Thurber
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Rawson Marshall Thurber
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 7, 2004
Video: December 7, 2004
Theatrical: June 18, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
96 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
Premiere
Peter Debruge
Take it from someone who can still feel the hollow rubber tang! of old dodgeball scars: It feels great to be blindsided by a little movie like this.

83
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
If you hold a perverse soft spot in your heart for straight-to-video underdog junk like "Ski School," you're going to love Dodgeball.

83
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Hilariously fake and rude. And thus true and tonic, if you know what I mean.

80
Empire
James Dyer
Unpretentious, unsophisticated and all the better for it.

80
Village Voice
Ed Park
Dodgeball is the most satisfying comedy of the past year--at least among the ones starring Stiller.

80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The movie's a treasure of small gems.

75
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Pointed and satiric. Best of all, one must hasten to admit, it's pretty funny.

75
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Ben Stiller is like a guy on the 1919 White Sox. He's rigged to lose. His comedy is the stuff of failure, and sometimes it's pleasurable watching him flit around in funny get-ups, only to have a pretty costar put him down.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
A blistering satire of feel-good sports movies, this film makes its mark via the most direct route: it lampoons by adopting the tried-and-true "straight" formula and tweaking it a little.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
In a miraculous gift to the audience, 20th Century-Fox does not reveal all of the best gags in its trailer.

75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
There are some clunky, juvenile jokes and an excess of shots to that special place on men that make us double over and weep. But there are some very funny, very hip jokes as well.

70
Variety
Joe Leydon
Gleefully commingles slapstick and scatology, satire and sentiment, in a free-wheeling farce aimed at making auds laugh until they're thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Strangely exhilarating.

70
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
Writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber (the short "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker") keeps the jokes coming fast and furious, and while none of them are deep, many find their mark.

67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
It may not be original, but it's often shamelessly funny and more clever than I expected. Not much, mind you, but enough to catch me off guard with a few surprise throws.

63
USA Today
Mike Clark
Coach Torn adds to a palpably violent undertone by heaving wrenches at their heads and crotches, making The Three Stooges' poking and slapping look downright tame.

60
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Nobody eviscerates the scary depths of male narcissism with such ferocity, and it is a huge relief to find Mr. Stiller flexing his oiled, low-comedy triceps with such vengeful glee.

50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Mostly, Dodgeball just feels off--never consistently funny, but also never dire. It's as if Thurber resigned himself to making a dumb, formula-bound movie with a dusting of smart gags instead of a smart movie in dumb-movie clothes.

50
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Modestly amusing teen summer comedy.

50
Slate
David Edelstein
It's coarse, primitive, regressive, often very stupid, and sometimes, against all odds, really a hoot.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
In outline, the story is pretty funny, and the film's outlandish takes on sports-movie conventions deliver some laughs. But Thurber chooses the low road to those laughs so often that he undermines his own satirical design. His actors certainly deliver amusing, spirited performances, but again, they get done in by relentless adolescent humor.

50
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
There's a place in life for movies like this goofy and lowbrow but never truly icky; the good guys are lovable losers and the bad guys have frosted feathered hair and unitards with inflatable codpieces.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Yes, the movie's watchable, and there are about six good laughs in it, but six good (not great) laughs in 90 minutes is pretty paltry for a comedy.

50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
As the WWF-style villain, Stiller misfires again and again, but Vaughn is reliably funny and Rip Torn has a great part as the underdogs' crotchety old coach.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Much of Dodgeball feels competent but lazy. The nerds are barely distinguishable, except for one who thinks he's a pirate and says arghh a lot to no humorous effect.

50
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The movie veers from cleverness to crass stupidity. You can never tell whether the next scene will induce loud laughter or contempt; for me, Dodgeball divided right down the middle.

50
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
In Dodgeball, Vaughn is stuck playing the straight man to a collection of stooges, and he looks utterly bored doing it.

40
LA Weekly
Robert Abele
For a while, Vaughn's slobbo guy charm and Stiller's creepy Flash Gordon aesthetic are amusing, but it isn't long before Vaughn looks like a Bill Murray disciple trapped among circus freaks, and Stiller runs out of weirdo tricks.

40
TV Guide
Angel Cohn
Be warned: The end credits contain a particularly nauseating image you'll wish you could delete from memory.

38
New York Post
Megan Lehmann
Ben Stiller's overbearing schtick officially reaches its expiration date with the desperate and puerile Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

38
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
Stiller, a DodgeBall producer, is revealing an unfortunate craving for the cheese of his childhood.

38
Philadelphia Inquirer
David Hiltbrand
Anyone with a sizable role in Dodgeball gets mired in the script's dissipated tone. Two of the climactic jokes involve "Happy Days" references. How tenuous is that?

25
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Stiller strives to be a wild and wacky villain, Vaughn endeavors to be a likable and average hero, and both fall flat on their faces, like everything else in this unspeakably stupid comedy.

10
Los Angeles Times
Manohla Dargis
Mean-spirited vulgarity and homosexual panic.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 90 User Votes
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