Deepspace93's Movie Review Blog

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Here's where you'll find my take on various movies good and bad, old and new. Some of the reviews posted here I have previously had published in both my school and local newspapers.

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Sunday the 9th of April 2006

01:39:39

Benchwarmers (PG-13)

Rating (/5):
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Written by: Allen Covert & Nick Swardson
Starring: Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, Jon Lovitz, Craig Kilborn, Molly Sims, Nick Swardson

The baseball season is upon us. That means it's time for cheer on our local teams. It may even be a time to remember our little league days—or lack thereof. Well the latest baseball-themed movie to come out of Hollywood is designed to do just that.
Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions presents a story of three guys who grew up on the fringes of society who decide to seek some retribution.
Meet landscaper Gus (Rob Schneider). After scaring off some little league bullies who were teasing another boy, Gus remembers what it was like to be on a baseball field—30 years ago. So he gets his two best friends, video store clerk Richie (David Spade) and paperboy—or should that be "paper-man"—Clark (Jon Heder), neither of whom have ever touched a baseball, to play some ball with him.
When the bullies return to claim the field, Gus challenges them to a game—Gus, Richie and Clark against a whole little league team. Amazingly, they happen to win.
Enter bazillionaire Mel (Jon Lovitz), the father of the kid getting bullied earlier. As he pulls up in his replica of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, he makes a proposal for Gus, Richie and Clark to enter a tournament against every little league team in the county in an effort to show them that all kids deserve a chance to play baseball. The winner gets to own a brand new little league stadium that Mel will have built.
Benchwarmers is certainly a great family movie in spirit with the take-home moral message of not to exclude kids from sports and activities just because different or essentially "nerds."
However, this film is rated PG-13 for a reason. Its rating is well deserved given the outlandishly numerous sexual innuendos and bathroom humor, including a talking urinal that tells you if you're not eating healthy. While some of these were definitely in bad taste, the majority of them I was able to laugh off and move on. The other part of the film that may be offensive to some is the near constant use of the "n" word. Nerds beware.
This film has actually been "warming the bench" (pun intended) for at least 10 years as IMDb.com reports that Jon Heder's role was originally scripted for the late Chris Farley.
A couple of cameos to watch out for are Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson as himself and James Earl Jones as the voice of Mel's Darth Vader gate controller. Also director Dennis Dugan takes on a part as one of the little league coaches and co-screenwriter stars as Richie's brother Howie, a character who's afraid to step outside.
Rob Schneider (SNL, Deuce Bigalow movies) isn't too bad in the role of the straight man of the three, who actually harbored a surprise plot twist up to near the end.
David Spade (SNL, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star) had the dubious role of a would-be 39-year-old womanizer who hadn't yet kissed a girl.
Which brings us to Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as 20-something guy with the mentality of a 10-year-old.
Shining above them all, I think, is Jon Lovitz (SNL, The Critic) as the Star Wars and old T.V. show-obsessed bazillionaire, who in addition to the K.I.T.T. replica also sports a replica of the batmobile from the '60s Batman series.
This film boasted enough bad-taste humor for me to give it as low as four out of ten. But there was just enough good-taste humor and morals for me to up it to six out of ten. It may not be worth your box-office bucks, but could make a good rental.