Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a comedy from 20th Century Fox, written and directed by Rawson Thurber and available on DVD or VHS December 2004.
The plot involves the underdog gym Average Joe's which tries to keep itself afloat by playing an important game of dodgeball against a glitzy, expensive gym Globo Gym. Vaughn leads the Average Joe's team to the classic underdog win at the last moment in a sudden death playoff. However, in the original script, the Average Joes team loses and the movie ends. The actors and directors approved, but test audiences didn't. Because of this, an end was written in where the team wins on a technicality, hence White Goodman's line: 'Well, that's it. Good guy wins. Bad guy loses. Big freagin' surprise. That's the problem with the American cinema: Can't handle any complexity. "Whoa! Don't make me think!"' Despite relying largely on goofy comedy the movie was relatively well-received by viewers and critics. Some even viewed the movie as a parody of sports tales as well as society's less-than-obscure social classes. The dialog contains quite a few obscure jokes that only viewers with a fair amount of background in history, literature, and pop culture will understand. Many famous people make appearances at various points in the movie including Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner. This movie also introduced the "5 D's of Dodgeball": Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.
Cast and roles include
- Vince Vaughn - Peter La Fleur
- Christine Taylor - Kate Veatch
- Ben Stiller - White Goodman
- Rip Torn - Patches O'Houlihan
- Justin Long - Justin
- Stephen Root - Gordon
- Joel Moore - Owen
- Chris Williams - Dwight
- Alan Tudyk - Steve the Pirate
- Missi Pyle - Fran
- Jamal Duff - Me'Shell Jones
- Gary Cole - Cotton McKnight
- Jason Bateman - Pepper Brooks
- Hank Azaria - Young Patches O'Houlihan
- Al Kaplon - Tournament Referee
- Lance Armstrong - Himself
- Chuck Norris - Himself
- William Shatner - Dodgeball Chancellor
- David Hasselhoff - German Coach
- Julie Gonzalo - Amber
- Trever O'Brien - Derek
- Cayden Boyd - Timmy
- Rusty Joiner - Blade
- Kevin Porter - Lazer
- Brandon Molale - Blazer
- Suzy Nakamura - Gordon's Wife
- Lori Beth Denberg - Martha Johnstone
- Julia Ensign - Cheerleader #1
- David Boyd - Cheerleader #2
- Bowd Beal - Cheerleader #3
- Curtis Armstrong - Mr. Ralph
- Tate Chalk - Waldorf Referee
- Jordyn Colemon - Angry Troop #417 Girl
- Hayley C. Rosales - Crying Troop #417 Girl
- Bix Barnaba - Homeless Man
- Earl Schuman - Elderly S&M Enthusiast
- Robert 'Duckie' Carpenter - S&M Man
- Tony Daly - Ronnie
- Amy Stiller - Keno Waitress
- Jim Cody Williams - Weird Guy with Monster Truck
- John Kesler - Alec
- Doug Grimes - Bartender
- Scarlett Chorvat - Joyce
- Matt Levin - Casino Worker #1
- Rawson Marshall Thurber - High School Jerk
- Sik End - Friendly Bondage Master
- Stephen B. Turner - Frustrated Cougar
- Tim Soergel - Frustrated Cougar #2
- Andy Chanley - Uber Film Narrator
- Priscilla Leona Horne - Naughty Nurse (uncredited)
- Tobias McKinney - German Blitzkrieg Player (uncredited)
- Brian W. Wallace - Lumberjacks player (uncredited)
Institutions in the movie
- ESPN 8 ("The Ocho"): "If it's almost a sport, we've got it!" This network is a riff on ESPN's growing empire of sports TV networks, which in 2004 numbered 5, not counting secondary services such as "ESPN Deportes".
- The American Dodgeball Association of America: The sanctioning body for the sport who has laid down the rules as follows:
- 6 players with one ball each; no gender specifications
- Catching of the ball counts as a reversal (i.e. Another player is allowed to come back on the field)
- No stepping beyond the red line which cuts the field horizontally
- Sudden death: If all players from both teams are eliminated, one player from both teams will participate in this overtime from two triangles facing each other. The first player to hit his opponent wins; catching is irrelevant.
External links
- Official movie web site (http://www.dodgeballmovie.com/)
- Template:Imdb titlesv:Dodgeball