Absurdist comedy is a fine genre, but even absurdity needs refinement and control. This doesn't necessarily require a good plot -in fact, as shown by winter's Club Dread
too much plot can ruin such a movie, sucking away precious joke time.
But it doesn't matter how much time is devoted to jokes if they aren't funny, as evidenced in last week's No. 1 movie Dodgeball.
Vince Vaughn portrays Peter La Fleur, owner of Average Joe's Gym. La Fleur doesn't exactly run a tight ship; he continually allows his customers, a ragtag crew of losers, to default on membership dues. Eventually, the bank forecloses on him. La Fleur and his patrons must quickly raise $50,000 or be bought out by egomaniac weirdo White Goodman (Ben Stiller), owner of fitness empire Globo Gym.
The misfits discover and enter the American Dodgeball Association of America's international tournament in Las Vegas for its convenient $50,000 grand prize.
To win, they must face off against a menacing array of opponents, including a hulking Globo Gym squad. Help comes from Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor), a lawyer assigned by the bank to help White close down Average Joe's. She feels sympathy for La Fleur and friends, and they recruit her softball-bred arm to the team. On board as coach is loudmouthed old Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn), an ADAA all-star in the '50s who's now wheelchair-bound.
The movie relies on repetitive gags that satisfy few times, if any. Of course, many people get clobbered by flying objects, but even Patches' curious training regimen (If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball) lasts far longer than is funny. Steve the Pirate (Alan Tudyk) talks, dresses and acts like a pirate. He gets no clever lines, just a lot of arr! and ay matey!
Most glaringly terrible is Stiller's White Goodman. White is an awkward, musclebound egoist, a poor retread of Stiller's infinitely funnier Derek Zoolander, cast as a bumbling villain. Stiller overacts in every scene.
Vaughn's performance as La Fleur is regrettable for the opposite reason. His character also recalls a past role, Bernard in Old School
but gone is Bernard's sarcastic wit and jaded cynicism -instead, we get apathy and an utter lack of personality.
There's nothing here as brilliant as male fashion models playfully spraying gasoline at each other (Zoolander) or a wedding singer who adds extraneous profanity to Total Eclipse of the Heart (Old School). And the many cameos fail to impress, save a golden appearance by Lance Armstrong.
To top it off, derogatory names and stereotypes fly by as often as big rubber dodgeballs. Kate can throw -she must be a lesbian. Dwight (Chris Williams) is a token black guy with childlike punch lines and behavior. Patches spouts slurs constantly.
One bright idea is ESPN 8, The Ocho
a fictional network that claims: If it's almost a sport
you'll find it here. But the acting suffers again as commentators Gary Cole and Jason Bateman turn in performances decidely less funny than the real-life sports announcers they are supposed to be portraying.
All in all, Dodgeball is a mess. Maybe Stiller and Vaughn just can't cut it without real comic heavyweights like Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson.
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Chris DeVille
