Benchwarmers, The

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

This morphing of "The Bad News Bears" and a "Three Stooges" episode parades its dumbness with such zip that it almost passes for clever.

Boston Globe James Parker

Not terrible, not terrible at all. Yes, the plot is terrible, some of the jokes are terrible, and Rob Schneider's bizarre from-the-neck-up oxblood tan is terrible, but the movie as a whole is a more-than-acceptable addition to the genre of shameless and hastily made American comedy.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

For the first two acts, veteran lowbrow director Dennis Dugan at least keeps The Benchwarmers' pace brisk and the wall-to-wall soundtrack upbeat and infectious. Then the big third-act twist arrives and the film drags to a finish, leaving a slug-like trail of squishy sentimentality.

LA Weekly Ben Kenigsberg

It's hard to buy the movie as an underdog success story, since even the actors barely seem to exert themselves.

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

From the beginning to its very end, The Benchwarmers seems to be struggling to justify its own existence.

Variety Joe Leydon

Under Dennis Dugan's rote direction, Schneider winds up playing straight man to Spade, who once again relies on his snarky coward shtick, and Heder, who comes across like someone doing a bad imitation of ... well, Heder himself in "Napoleon Dynamite."

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This formulaic mess of sports-movie cliches and self-esteem claptrap contains a couple of funny bits, but you have to slog through a lot of done-to-death bodily function jokes to get to them.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

An underdog's breakfast of a movie, with some quite funny characters and set pieces mixed with some excruciating "moral lessons," but at least it moves along at a brisk pace.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The Benchwarmers is the sort of trash that Hollywood does really well. It is also, to quote Mr. Schneider, "a master's thesis on the form of a quintessential Adam Sandler comedy."

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

You have to credit the filmmakers for at least acknowledging their level of dreck during the final credits, when Lovitz rhetorically asks, "This was a complete waste of time, wasn't it?"

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

It's a movie packed with so many idiot characters that Rob Schneider is cast as the cool guy -- and sort of pulls it off.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

No laughs here, just the dull ache of seeing Heder slotted into a standard piece of Hollywood twaddle.

Empire Damon Wise

An unfunny, unfocused sub-SNL baseball comedy that makes the likes of Joe Dirt and Deuce Bigalow seem vintage.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

The humor is infantile at best (projectile vomiting and bathroom jokes) and meanspirited at worst (midgets and gays, look out).

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Sandler's latest ode to projectile vomiting, passing gas, gay jokes and physical insults to the groin is basically a feeble cross between "The Revenge of the Nerds" and "The Bad News Bears."

Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton

Though not entirely incapable of provoking a smile (or two), The Benchwarmers strikes out. Again and again and again.

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

Another disastrous comedy aimed at second-graders and anyone else who thinks farts are still funny.