DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
Produced by | |
Written by | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
Starring |
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Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
Cinematography | Jerzy Zielinski |
Edited by | |
Production
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million |
Box office | $167.7 million |
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story is a 2004 American sports comedy film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. The film follows friends who enter a dodgeball tournament in order to win enough money to save their failing gym from being bought by a coorperate fitness chain.
DodgeBall received generally positive reviews, including a 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and grossed $167 million worldwide.
Peter LaFleur is the owner of Average Joe's, a small gym with only a few members. When he defaults on the gym's mortgage, it is purchased by his rival, the arrogant White Goodman, a fitness guru and owner of the Globo Gym across the street. Unless Peter can raise $50,000 in thirty days, White will foreclose on Average Joe's and demolish it to build a parking garage. Attorney Katherine "Kate" Veatch is working on the transaction for White. White unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her and she instead develops a close friendship with Peter.
Average Joe's employees Dwight and Owen and members Steve "the Pirate," Justin and Gordon try to raise the money needed to save the gym. Gordon suggests that they enter a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas with a $50,000 prize. They form a team with Peter and watch a 1950s-era training video narrated by dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan (Hank Azaria) and a 12-year old boy named Timmy (Cayden Boyd). They are soundly defeated by a Girl Scout troop in a local qualifying match but win by default when the Scouts are disqualified because of one member's steroid and beaver tranquilizer use.
White spies on Average Joe's using a hidden camera and forms his own dodgeball team to defeat them. Peter is approached by the aging, wheelchair-bound Patches, who volunteers to coach the team. Patches' training regimen includes throwing wrenches at the team, forcing them to dodge oncoming cars and constantly roasting them with insults. Kate demonstrates skill at the game but declines to join the team as it would be a conflict of interest. Upon finding a loophole in the contract with Kate, White arranges for her to be fired from her law firm so that dating him would not be a conflict of interest. This enrages Kate and motivates her to join the Average Joe's team.