Dodgeball (2005)
| DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Rawson M. Thurber |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Rawson M. Thurber |
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| Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
| Cinematography | Jerzy Zielinski |
| Edited by | |
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Production
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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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 M. Thurber and starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.
The plot follows a group of misfits entering a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament to save their cherished local gym from the onslaught of a corporate health fitness chain.
Peter LaFleur is the owner of Average Joe's Gymnasium, 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; she is repulsed but just says she does not date clients. She 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 and a 12-year old boy named Timmy. 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 in a cardboard cutout of himself, 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's training regimen includes throwing wrenches at the team, forcing them to dodge oncoming cars, and constantly berating them with insults. Kate demonstrates skill at the game but declines to join the team as it would be a conflict of interest. Then White arranges for Kate to be fired from her law firm, imagining she will now date him. Enraged, but now free of conflict, she joins the Average Joe's team.
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