Official Synopsis:
For anyone who's ever been picked on, put down or pushed around, your heroes are here! Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) star as three older guys who know what it's like to be bullied. After catching some nasty neighborhood kids picking on a friend's son, they strike back by forming a three-man baseball team to challenge the state's best Little Leaguers. Now, cheered on by every nerd, geek and misfit in town, these underdogs are about to have a field day in this slapstick hit comedy from the director of Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore and producer Adam Sandler.
Our Take:
There are three kinds of humor in The Benchwarmers. The first kind is the physical humor; the second is the potty humor; and the third is the clever humor. The physical humor works; I've never really been a big fan of pratfalls and people getting kicked in the nuts, but in this film, it's done well enough to be funny. I found myself laughing at stupid things, but laughing nonetheless. The potty humor I've never liked and I never will. As long as I live, I will never understand what's funny about people belching, puking, eating boogers, etc. Unfortunately, this movie has that style of humor in spades. As for the clever humor, well... there is none. That's the unfortunate part of the whole film, because there's a decent movie buried in here somewhere. There are glimmers of comedic intelligence throughout, but every time the movie could have worked in a great line or clever situation, it resorted instead to a fart joke or some such nonsense.
I guess I just didn't realize that this film was made for 12 year old boys. They should laugh their way right through it, but as an adult comedy, it just doesn't live up to its potential. Now, I know that hearing the word potential in a sentence about a movie starring Rob Schneider and David Spade might seem like overstatement, but it's there. Schneider is actually the heart and soul of the film, and he plays it well. It's a nice reminder why this guy was able to carry a movie on his own in the first place. Unfortunately for fans of Napoleon Dynamite, Jon Heder plays a character that makes Napoleon look like a member of MENSA.
The DVD release of The Benchwarmers is a pretty solid effort. It seems as though Rob Schneider was only marginally involved in the extras, though, which is too bad because the rest of the cast and crew contribute quite a lot.
* Commentary - Director Dennis Dugan fills us in on the making of the movie.
* Commentary - David Spade and Jon Heder provide a pretty fun commentary track, although it's a shame they couldn't get Rob Schneider to pitch in.
* Nerds Vs. Bullies (6 minutes) - The cast talks about nerd-dom, bullies, and the concept behind The Benchwarmers.
* Mr. October (8 minutes) - The cast talks about working with Reggie Jackson. Jackson also sits for an interview.
* Play Ball (6 minutes) - Cast and crew share their feelings about baseball.
* Who's On Deck? (3 minutes) - A collection of Howie moments from the film.
* Deleted Scenes - Four deleted scenes, with a total running time of about three minutes.
There's an audience out there for Benchwarmers, but I think it will consist mostly of people who enjoy a good nut shot or booger joke. There are some funny moments and a good heart in this film, but it just doesn’t live up to the clever comedy it could have been.
Overall Picture:
Movie: C
DVD: B
- Mike Spring
Editor
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