Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Movie Review (2024)

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Think Bad News Bears crossed with Happy Gilmore.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Products & Purchases

    a lot

    Flooded with featured products and signage: Lumber Liquidators, FOX TV, Marriott Hotels, ESPN (a fake channel they call ESPN 8), Omaha Steaks, Sport Court, Mat Depot, Hallmark, the Las Vegas Monte Carlo Hotel.

  • Language

    some

    Continuous broad, risque language from start to finish: multiple uses and expressions involving "sh-t," "ass," bitch," "hooker," "pecker-slap," "masturbate," "semen," "balls" (countless double entendres here), and "screwed." In addition, there are derogatory, inflammatory descriptions such as: "retards," "queers," "lesbian" and "ladies" used to insult a group of men. Such "colorful" ribald expressions as "Skidmarks on the underpants of…, " and "Time to put your mouth where our balls are," are heard throughout.

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  • Violence & Scariness

    some

    Continuous cartoon violence: pratfalls, characters being hit with steel wrenches, rubber balls (in the groin, face, head and every other conceivable area of the body). Characters dodge traffic, run into walls, and one primary character is "killed" when a massive chandelier falls and crushes him. Other than the chandelier debacle, none of the characters is shown to be in pain or seriously injured. All action is played in an exaggerated manner for comic effect.

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  • Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

    a little

    Beer and other alcoholic beverages are consumed in numerous sequences, but never to the stage of drunkenness. There is one shot of an opium den. Some characters are shown using alchol to "drown their sorrows."

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  • Sex, Romance & Nudity

    a little

    Raunchy sexuality plays a big part in the humor of this film: character "pumps up" groin area of his workout pants to accentuate size of his genitals; classic-style sculpture of men in a grotesque sexual pose is featured in one sequence; lots of large-breasted women are seen in scanty clothing. There are crotch jokes, electrodes attached to nipples, sloppy kisses, and an extended kissing/embracing scene.

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  • Positive Messages

    very little

    Fat, unattractive, and/or slow-witted people are the butt of numerous jokes and comic scenes. The only positive messages are that even the most unlikely people can achieve success if they try hard, think creatively, and are very lucky; and, that those with virtuous motives triumph over vain arrogance and greed.

  • Positive Role Models

    very little

    Though characters are portrayed as working hard to attain a specific goal, given their behavior and their eccentricities, no one is a positive role model.

  • Parents Need to Know

    Parents need to know that Dodgeball is meant to be silly fun -- teens and parents who love Adam Sandler-style humor will enjoy it very much. Those who don't should avoid it. The movie has some very mature material, including explicit sexual humor with jokes about adultery, group sex, pornography, genital size, and bondage, along with some very strong language, including many double entendres featuring the word "balls." Characters drink frequently, including drinking to dull pain. The coach taunts the team by calling them "ladies." Numerous large-breasted women appear in close-ups, wearing very little. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.

Where to Watch

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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Parent and Kid Reviews

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  • Parents say (14)
  • Kids say (49)

age 13+

Based on 14 parent reviews

Nicole W. Adult

October 26, 2020

age 15+

OkaySayWhat Adult

September 7, 2020

age 14+

Not really for kids under 14

Funny movie for adults. Too much innuendo and flat out vulgar language. Example, the coach asks the mgr if he wants to go to his room with some hookers. Also, tells one of the players he is similar to a (foul language) flavored lolli pop. Come on. Kids can pick these things up.

Rate movie

See all 14 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Pete (Vince Vaughn) is about to lose his gym, the comfy hang-out "Average Joe's," to White (Ben Stiller), the owner of the uber-exercise facility known as Globo Gym (slogan: "We're better than you are!"). To save the gym, he needs $50,000 in 30 days. And that just happens to be the purse for the winner of the big dodgeball tournament that one of Average Joe's regulars finds in the pages of his Obscure Sports Quarterly magazine. So Pete and his gang of misfits decide to take their shot. The group includes Justin (Justin Long), Stephen Root (Office Space), and Steve the Pirate (Alan Tudyk), a guy who refers to himself in the third person and thinks he is a pirate. After winning the qualifying regional title on a technicality, they are approached by the world's greatest dodgeball coach (Rip Torn), who reminds them that "dodgeball is a sport of violence, exclusion, and degradation" and in just three weeks turns them into a lean, mean, fighting machine. Or at least into a group that can duck when a wrench is thrown their way. And they pick up a new team member who can throw very, very hard. Then it's off to the big game, with preliminary skirmishes before facing the Globo team, men-mountains who all have names like "Laser" and "Taser" plus a unibrowed woman with very bad teeth.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:

Parents say (14):

Kids say (49):

DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY is pure silliness -- lots of balls slamming into lots of people, some funny surprise cameo appearances, Ben Stiller's clueless bully persona, and insult humor. Gary Cole and Jason Bateman have some good moments as sportscasters and Hank Azaria is fun to watch in an old instructional film the team uses to learn how to play. Most of the laughs are less in the "wow, that's funny category" than in the "I can't believe they tried that" category, as when a uniform mix-up has the Average Joes appearing at a match in bondage gear, but there aren't many real clunkers. Pete's slacker demeanor never gives Vaughn a chance to make use of his greatest asset, the slightly ADD vibe he showed to such advantage in Swingers and Clay Pigeons. And Christine Taylor (Stiller's real-life wife) deserves better than a role that is essentially the same one she played in Zoolander. But it all moves pretty quickly and is over before it wears out its welcome.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about some of their own experience in feeling like an underdog. What should Pete have done when White made him an offer?

  • Families could also talk about perseverance, and the comment made by one character that "if a person never quits after the going gets rough, they won't have anything to regret for the rest of their lives."

  • Peter is a very reluctant leader to his team. Why do they look up to him so much? Do you think it was wrong for him to admonish them for doing so?

  • What authentic underdog sports stories do you enjoy?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: June 18, 2004
  • On DVD or streaming: December 7, 2004
  • Cast: Ben Stiller, Justin Long, Vince Vaughn
  • Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
  • Inclusion Information: Middle Eastern/North African actors
  • Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 96 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: rude and sexual humor, and language
  • Last updated: October 12, 2024

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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Movie Review (2024)
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