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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a 2004 comedy from 20th Century Fox, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

Taglines:

  • A true underdog story.
  • Grab life by the ball.
  • Grab Life by the Balls. (Australia and Europe)
  • Go balls deep.

Plot

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 called Globo Gym. Vaughn's character leads the Average Joe's team to a classic underdog win at the last moment in a sudden death playoff, utilizing the "5 D's of Dodgeball": Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and ...... dodge. The film features cameos by celebrities such as Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, Hank Azaria, David Hasselhoff and William Shatner.

The DVD features an alternate ending in which the Average Joe's team loses and the movie ends thereafter. The audio commentary by director Rawson Marshall Thurber indicates that this was the original ending to the film, something many critics and Internet reviewers picked up and reported as fact. This is fact, because although the film commentary is a tongue-in-cheek spat between the director and actors, on the British DVD, the director's commentary for this alternate ending is in a separate section to the commentary for the rest of the film, and this one is only commented on by the director. In this the director reveals that he actually left the film for a time in protest at the ending being changed to Joe's team winning.

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. There are also several moments of almost meta-referential humor, such as the "Deus ex machina" plaque on the treasure chest which suddenly appears near the end.

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 the Spanish-language "ESPN Deportes". In addition, the title is a reference to the nickname of "The Deuce" for ESPN-2 when it first appeared.
  • 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. The throwing player is out and another player on the catching team is allowed to come back on the field)
    • No stepping beyond the red line which cuts the field horizontally in half
    • Only ADAA balls can be used; personal balls are prohibited
    • Sudden death: If all players from both teams are eliminated, and one commits a double fault, 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.
    • All players on a team must wear matching uniforms.
    • Dyslexic players are not allowed on court.
  • Obscure Sports Quarterly: A quarterly magazine which reports on obscure sports, such as Midget Tossing.
  • Las Vegas University Learning Annex: The host of the Las Vegas International Dodgeball Open.

Teams at the Las Vegas International Dodgeball Open

Teams Mentioned but Not Shown

Trivia

  • The two rival teams, The Average Joes and the Purple Cobras, is a reference to the rivalry of the Joes and Cobras from G.I. Joe.

  • In a DVD extra, director Rawson Marshall Thurber shows a supposed "director's cut" with the movie ending in Average Joe's defeat. In that version the line "They came here for absolutely nothing" ended the movie. Thurber states on the commentary that due to poor screen testing, the decision was made to add the current ending. This is not the true ending and is in the sardonic spirit of the film. Thurber said that in the early drafts of the script, Average Joe's did lose, but Steve the Pirate was going to come back with a large amount of money he had won at Treasure Island after a pedestrian on The Strip (played by Thurber) told him to go back there.
  • The treasure chest containing the winnings that save the day bears a plaque that reads Deus Ex Machina.
  • In the unrated edition, Peter La Fleur, Kate Veatch and her bi-sexual friend Joyce engage in group kissing after Average Joe's victory.
  • When watching the Joe's commercial at the end of the film, as they are walking up to the camera, one can see Justin place his hand on Amber's very pregnant belly.

  • Thurber states that he based the red and yellow colors of the Average Joes' uniforms on those worn by Hickory High School in the film Hoosiers.
  • Puppet legend Flat Eric was originally due to appear in a cameo role, but was forced to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.
  • In the restaurant, when White Goodman says "Ball me!" meaning "Pass me a ball", the line may have been inspired by the way J.J Hunsucker would say "Match me!" to ask for a light in The Sweet Smell Of Success.
  • Rip Torn has a strong connection with dodgeball - like his character in the film, Patches O'Houlihan. He has been Commissioner of the TV series Extreme Dodgeball since Season 3.
  • On movie posters the phrase is "Grab Life By The Ball" while on the DVD cover it says "Grab Life By The Balls".
  • Candice Michelle's role as a Dodgeball dancer for the movie was one of the ways that Candice qualified for a WWE Diva Search, which later became a diva for the World Wrestling Entertainment.
  • After introducing "Blade," a member of his team who bears a striking resemblence to Val Kilmer, Blade clicks his teeth together in the manner of Iceman in Top Gun.

Cast and roles include

External links

2004 films | American films | Comedy films | Dodgeball | English-language films | Films shot in Super 35 | Films with bonus scenes after the credits

Voll auf die Nüsse | ドッジボール (映画) | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | Dodgeball - boltsit pelissä | Dodgeball | Dodgeball

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story".

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