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DodgeBall was a helluva lot funnier than I originally gave it credit for. When I first heard about it, I rolled my eyes in disbelief. Were they really going to make this movie? And then, when the movie opened at #1 (earning $30 million opening weekend), I was shocked. Were there really that many people interested in seeing this movie?! An "underdog story" indeed.
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story is the story of two men - Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) and White Goodman (Ben Stiller) Peter owns 'Average Joe's', his own little gym with a few ragtag members who are devoted to his facility. Well, let's face it. The only reason they go to his gym is probably because they were laughed out of every other joint in town. White, on the other hand, owns Globo Gym, the next generation in fitness with all the highest quality equipment, instructors, etc. And Globo Gym has a thorn in its side - Average Joe's is right across the street. So, when Peter is on the verge of losing his gym (which he doesn't really want in the first place), White steps in and speeds up the bank foreclosure process. Average Joe's only hope for survival is to come up with $50,000 within a month. And the membership, being as loyal as they are, come up with the bright idea of entering a DodgeBall tournament where the prize is said $50K. But, White won't give up that easily, entering his own team to oust Peter. And this is basically the Underdog Story.
Why did I think this movie would suck. Well, first of all, I'm getting a little sick of Ben Stiller. I like the guy and think he's funny, but he's continually playing the same character and it's getting a little tired. Granted, Stiller's character here is nothing like the losers we're all used to seeing him play, but the point is that he's ruined his image after playing that same guy one too many times. And Vince Vaughn - well I like him too, but he's pretty much the same one-note kinda guy. It's funny - but overdone. However here, they made it work.
There are some great special features included with this DVD. As always, I'll first mention the audio commentary. Here, we get a feature-length discussion featuring stars Stiller and Vaughn with director Rawson Marshall Thurber. This one's pretty funny with the best moments (for me) being when they continually refered to the "Fox Rules" for doing a commentary and pointed out every time one of the rules was broken - like mentioning a non-Fox movie. Not a lot of information here other than your usual behind-the-scenes stories and notes about changes to the original story, but these guys have some great chemistry and the commentary really backs this up.
Also included are some funny deleted/extended scenes (with optional director's commentary) and an alternate ending. If you listen to the commentary, a lot of these scenes will make more sense as most are discussed there within the context of the film. Some funny moments, but the Rocky-ish alternate ending, although well-meaning, was a bit of a head-scratcher.
From there, we get three featurettes - none of which can be taken too seriously. The first is titled "DodgeBall Boot Camp: Training for DodgeBall" where we hear about all the training the actors had to endure for the film, "Anatomy of a Hit" where we learn about the best ways to get a laugh by hitting somebody with a DodgeBall and finally "Justin Long: A Study in Ham and Cheese" which looks at one of the movie's actors which is similar to a blooper reel showing some funnier outtakes from the movie.
There's also a brief feature titled "DodgeBall: Go for the Gold" where Stiller and Vaughn promote DodgeBall as an Olympic sport. The disc's only other features are a blooper/gag reel and some trailers for this movie as well as "The Ringer" (with Johnny Knoxville), "Arrested Development" (which seems to be on every Fox DVD lately), as well as Fox's regular "First Look" feature looking at "Elektra". I should also mention that the DVD opens with a dodgeball-specific spot for "Pauly Shore is Dead".
But, that's not all. The disc also includes a pretty fun Easter Egg. If you select the "Viper" in the special features menu, you get a little clip of White explaining how to access this bonus. Basically, every time White snaps his fingers in the movie, if you press "Enter" on your remote, you're treated to a little something extra. I only found three times where White snapped, but there may be more. (The official press release from Fox indicates there are 6 easter eggs.) What we get first is a mean-spirited (and funny) congratulations from White for finding the feature, followed by some gags/outtakes and most significantly, a new audio commentary featuring only the director. It wasn't nearly as good as the disc's first commentary (frankly, it was a little boring) but still a nice (and surprising) addition to the disc.
Like I said, I wasn't really expecting a lot from this movie - which is probably why I enjoyed it that much more. It was a pleasant surprise and it was easy to watch again a few times. More importantly, it restored some of my faith in the comic talents of Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.
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