"A hilariously worthy successor to the great goofball comedies of the late Seventies and early Eighties, movies like Caddyshack and Meatballs." Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER "Getting hit in the face with a ball isn't funny, but watching someone else get hit in the face is." John Larsen LIGHT VIEWS "A comedy so brainless it's actually kind of brilliant." Bob Townsend ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION "Silly, illogical and downright brainless fluff that, for one reason or another, manages to be both funny and charismatic all the way through." David Keyes CINEMAPHILE.ORG "The audience dodged, dived, ducked, dipped, dodged and laughed themselves silly. Guess what? So did I. It may be the stupidest, dumbest, most politically incorrect movie of 2004, but who cares. It's a hell of a hoot." Richard Surfield THE MOVIE PAGES

"No matter what you read elsewhere, don’t dodge this flick; it’s by far the funniest movie thus far of 2004." David Foucher EDGE BOSTON "Oh, the movie’s not too bright, but I couldn’t stop laughing, and that’s the point, right?" David Cornelius AMAZING COLOSSAL WEBSITE "The Three Stooges with balls. Big Balls!!" Marty King THE MOVIE PAGES "Aims low and happily hits its target." Robert Denerstein DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS "A pretty hilarious movie thanks to Stiller’s willingness to let himself look like a complete idiot just for laughs " Jim Chastain NORMAN TRANSCRIPT

At A Glance

"For viewers who just want to laugh for 90 minutes without having to think too much, the no-holds-barred Dodgeball will happily do the trick." Dustin Putman THEMOVIEBOY.COM

I have to confess readers. "I'm a bloody hypocrtite." Yes it's true. I am totally ashamed of myself. I'm a backslider of the worst kind. I've been found out and it's shame, shame, shame. I am one of those who actually find the Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn film "Dodgeball", very, very, funny. I know. True, I'm a very sick person, but I can't help it. "Dodgeball" is funny. All I can say is I hope it's a passing phase this appreciation for violence, crass dialogue, sexism at its most degrading and pump up crotches. As a great fan of "The Three Stooges I found the madcap antics of the cast in "Dodgeball" downright hilarious. Sure, in this day and age we shouldn't laugh at most of what is portrayed in the film; we should remain politically correct; we should voice our disapproval at those who belittle citizens less fortunate than ourselves; we should never see violence as funny; but let's face it, we may as well enjoy a good laugh, even if it is at the expense of the afore mentioned. It's funny how we sometimes see the misfortune of others as very funny. Sometimes so funny that it totally cracks you up. Film critic Paul Doro summed it up perfectly when reviewing "Dodgeball" describing the film this way; "The type of movie that makes you laugh in spite of yourself. It definitely falls under the guilty pleasure category." Sure is, Paul. Those who found "Freddie Got Fingered" funny, will know what we mean. Ben Stillers business partner at Red Hour Films, Stuart Cornfeld realized that as soon as the film landed on his desk. "We thought the film was hilarious," he said. "It had great characters and a subject new to films, yet one that nearly everybody has had some experience with." It is here I guess, many of you are wondering, "What the heck is Dodgeball?". Remember the game 'brandy' many of us played as kids. It started off just chasing each other and tagging people by whacking them with a tennis ball. It was called 'brandy' because it left a round red mark on the spot where that speeding tennis ball collected you. The last person standing was the winner. Later on we played it on tennis courts that weren't being used during winter. It was all great fun until some smart arse scared the dickens out of us with a tale of how someone had lost their leg due to being 'branded'. Being hit on the leg had caused this mystery person to develope cancer and that of course, eventually led to the amputation of their leg. Being pretty naive, us idiots actually believed that, and so, as the word spread, 'brandy' died out. In this film, Dodgeball is played on an indoor court with balls smaller than a basketball. Players tag each other and are eliminated. But if you catch the ball, an eliminated player comes back in. When one teams players are eliminated, the other team is declared the winner. And please don't worry if you haven't heard of dodgeball, director and scriptwriter Rawson Marshall Thurber struck plenty of that when trying to sell the film to studio executives. "I'd hear things like, "Wow, this is really funny, but we don't want to make a dodgeball movie". Apparently", as he explained, "there's very little data on how dodgeball movies perform at the boxoffice." And why is that? "Mostly because there were no other films on the subject," he says. Right. Fair enough. So what is "Dodgeball" the movie all about? Underdogs winning out and triumphing against all odds. "The characters are people you identify with," says Vince Vaughn . "it reminds me, believe it or not, of 'The Wizard Of Oz'. The Oz characters, like ours, are searching for things they already have, like heart and courage." Yeh, right! Can you really say that about all the characters. I mean, Stillers character White Goodman is a sleazebag and the character Rip Torn plays is a sick bastard. Torn agrees noting that "Patches is a sick, twisted and filthy old man who knows a lot about the game but very little about social comportment." But when it came to playing Patches, the veteran who has spent fifty years in film, television and on stage says,"He was a joy to play." As for White Goodman, he's "a self made man who projects an image of faux [tactless] sexiness; fake tan, blazing white teeth, perfectly coiffed hair, greased and highlighted to perfection, and a handlebar moustache." Stuart Cornfeld describes Goodman as " an extremely tightly wound egomaniac with a core of self hatred and insecurity." Ben Stiller points out,"having completely transfromed his appearance and his life, he's on a rampage, running over anyone who gets in his way." The them versus us aspect of the film works well. The ruthless 'have it alls' versus the 'average joes'. To get the cast up to scratch they all attended a training camp. Here they would learn just how tough it is to play the game. And, if you think it looks painful on the screen, then consider this. "Aches, pains and minor injuries such as skinned knees, sore shoulders and even a torn rotator cuff were constant companions to the actors as they honed their dodgeball skills." Ben Stillers wife Christine Taylor can testify how hard it was. She copped a ball in the face from Ben during rehersals for one scene. "Ben's competitive spirit really took over during the dodgeball scenes," she said laughing. "He did his left handed wind-up, and threw the ball as hard as he could. But he has no aim and the ball hit me in the face." So did he kiss and make up? "He felt really bad about it," she said, "but the only serious damage was to my ego." Belting the wife in the face with a dodgeball wasn't all that Stiller admits to hitting. He also managed to hit three stedi-cams. "I guess that's why I got the nickname 'Wild Thing' during production," says Stiller. "Because my aim was always off." One things for sure, the aim of the film [which is to get everyone laughing] is straight and true. "Dodgeball" is a very funny film. Very naughty, but never the less, funny. Crew Bytes "Dodgeball" was .......
directed and written by Rawson Marshall Thurber ["Terry Tate, Office Linebacker"]; production design by Maher Ahmad ["U.S Marshalls", "Chain Reaction", "The Fugitive" and "Married To The Mob"]; edited by Alan Baumgarten A.C.E ["Losing Chase", "Lord Of Illusions" and "The Lawnmower Man"]; costume designer Carol Ramsey ["Tuck Everlasting", "Scary Movie 3", "The Santa Clause" and "Le Divorce"]; Cinematography by Jerzy Zielinski ASC ["Who Is Cletis Tout", "Galaxy Quest", "Swing Kids" and "Paradise"]; set decoration by Gene Serdena ["Three Kings", "Auto Focus", "Adaptation" and "House of Sand and Fog"]; produced by Stuart Cornfeld ["Zoolander", "The Fly", "Mimic" and "The Elephant Man"] and Ben Stiller ["Starsky and Hutch"]; original music by Theodore Shapiro ["View From The Top", "State and Main", "Old School", "Along Came Polly" and "Starsky and Hutch"].
Casting About "Dodgeball" stars .......
Vince Vaughn ["Clay Pigeons", "Swingers", "The Cell", "Old School" and "Starsky and Hutch"]; Christine Taylor ["The Wedding Singer", "The Brady Bunch Movie", "The Craft" and "Zoolander"]; Ben Stiller ["The Royal Tenenbaums", "Zoolander", "Along Came Polly" and "Starsky and Hutch"]; EMMY Award winner Rip Torn ["Men In Black", "Men In Black II", "King of Kings" and "The Cincinnati Kid"]; Justin Long ["Jeepers Creepers", "Crossroads", "Happy Campers" and "Galaxy Quest"]; Stephen Root ["Crocodile Dundee", "Ghost", "Bicentenial Man", "Dave" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"]; Joel David Moore ["Dodgeball" and "The Bathroom Boys"]; Missi Pyle ["Galaxy Quest", "Bringing Down The House", "Big Fish" and "As Good As It Gets"]; Chris Williams ["Friday After Next", "Blankman", "Major Payne" and "Spider-man 2"] with Alan Tudyk ["A Knights Tale", "Hearts In Atlantis","Firefly", "Patch Adams" and "28 days] as Steve the Pirate. The Story

"The fusion of violence and silliness makes dodgeball a great subject for a sports comedy, and the Vaughn/Stiller team is casting perfection." Mike McGranaghan AISLE SEAT

It's outrageous!! Yes, outrageously funny. Dodgeball a tale of triumph. A story where the underdog has their day in the sun. Meet Peter LaFleur. He owns Average Joe's Gym. A gym that's rundown and boasts a clientele to match. Now meet White Goodman. He owns the upmarket Globo Gym, located right across the road from LaFleurs eyesore. Egotist and allround sleazebag White wants to take over Average Joes's and turn it into a parking lot. Thanks to Pete's lack of bookkeeping skills, that takeover looks all set to go ahead. The bank has sent attorney Kate Veach to Average Joe's to finalize Goodman's takeover. But all may not be lost. There's a very slight chance Average Joe's may just survive. Pete has used his boyish charms on Kate and convinced her to join him and the guys at his gym in a last ditched attempt to come up with the cash the bank requires. How? By qualifying for the American Dodgeball Championships. It's gonna be a big one. A showdown. Gym on Gym. So let's play ball. What ball? Dodgeball! Can the underdogs win the day? Hang on to your balls, anyones balls and find out in the totally silly, very funny, politically incorrect, "Dodgeball". The Verdict "Totally irreverent! Politically incorrect! Grossly violent! Absolutely insensitive! But gee is it funny. Whatever you do don't miss "Dodgeball". Stiller, Vaughn, Tudyk, Torn and the rest of the cast are terrific in their goof ball roles. Grab life by the balls. Dodgeballs that is. Go see it." The Cast

Vince Vaughn Christine Taylor Ben Stiller Rip Torn Justin Long Stephen Root Joel Moore Chris Williams Alan Tudyk Missi Pyle Jamal E Duff Gary Cole Jason Bateman Hank Azaria Al Kaplon Lance Armstrong Chuck Norris William Shatner David Hasselhoff Julie Gonzalo Trever O'Brien Cayden Boyd Rusty Joiner Kevin Porter Brandon Molale Suzy Nakamura

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Peter La Fleur Kate Veatch White Goodman Patches O'Houlihan Justin Gordon Owen Dwight Steve the Pirate Fran Me'Shell Jones Cotton McKnight Pepper Brooks Young Patches O'Houlihan Tournament Referee Himself Himself Dodgeball Chancellor German Coach Amber Derek Timmy Blade Lazer Blazer Gordon's Wife

The Crew Directed and Written by Rawson Marshall Thurber Produced by Stuart Cornfeld & Ben Stiller Executive ProducerS Mary McLaglen & Rhoades Rader Original Music by Kenneth Burgomaster/Theodore Shapiro/Christopher Ward Cinematography by Jerzy Zielinski Film Editing by Alan Baumgarten & Peter Teschner Casting by Juel Bestrop/Blythe Cappello/Jeanne McCarthy Production Design by Maher Ahmad Art Direction by Andrew Max Cahn Set Decoration by Gene Serdena Costume Design by Carol Ramsey Makeup Department Head Lisa Layman Production Manager Mary McLaglen Production Supervisor Monica Levinson Run Time 92 minutes Rated M15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Twentieth Century Fox - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2004 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages- All Rights Reserved