Friday, April 7, 2006

The Benchwarmers (*1/2)

--> --> This root-for-the-underdog baseball film is a lazily plotted compendium of physical humor geared toward 12-year-old boys, starring David Spade, Rob Schneider, and Jon Heder.


From the writing and acting talent that has already produced one other not-screened-for-critics comedy in 2006, Grandma’s Boy, comes this baseball story. To say that it strikes out would be trite, yet in keeping with the unoriginal spirit shown here. The plot is, one day a guy (Rob Schneider) decides to pick up his old mitt and gets his misfit pals (David Spade and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder) to challenge some pre-teen bullies in a tournament. Heder’s character is basically Napoleon with a lower IQ and a better haircut. Spade is basically himself with a worse haircut. Schneider is the normal one, as well as the only one who knows how to play baseball. As for the jokes, here’s a sample. Heder: “What’s steroids?” Spade: “Something that makes your peepee smaller.” To be fair, though, The Benchwarmers is more of a visual comedy, and it’s a nose-picking, bug-eating, face-farting, face-spitting, head-banging, crotch-smacking, pants-pulling, projectile vomit lover’s dream. I’m awarding this half a star extra purely on the basis that the ending was mildly surprising. I never actually laughed. As this movie taught me, it’s not nice to laugh at a loser.


posted 9/3/13

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