Looking at the cast for this movie would normally be enough to fill a regular person with dread. Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, Jon Lovitz� my God. Schneider has made his name playing the same loser character over and over and over; Spade is a failed comedian with an unfunny TV show; and Heder is a one-note actor whose apparent talents have not been particularly obvious. All in all it�s not the most promising beginning, and for the most part the movie plays out as you would expect.
What is different though is Schneider playing against type as a successful, married man with a serious talent for baseball, whose dark hidden secret is not quite what you are led to believe. This alone, plus some surprisingly amusing physical comedy, saves The Benchwarmers from being yet another crass disaster which should have gone straight to DVD. Heder and Spade still play idiot losers, but that should really come as no surprise.
The name is pretty descriptive about the plot, Spade, Heder and Schneider are three guys who were never allowed to play baseball when they were kids, and who in the middle of saving a little fat kid from bullies, take on and beat a full team of Little Leaguers. The little fat kid�s dad, billionaire Mel (Lovitz, playing the archetypal tech nerd), sees their success and formulates a competition involving all the local Little League baseball teams with a new stadium as the prize. The Benchwarmers enter, they have to overcome tough kiddie opposition, yada yada.
Quite surprisingly the movie had me in stitches at times, though I guess I was just in the mood for some base humour at that point, and while the plot was pretty routine it moved forward swiftly and cleanly enough to keep it enjoyable. There were just enough fart jokes and silliness to amuse without going overboard, and seeing Schneider play someone who isn�t a total moron was oddly enjoyable. There�s not much new here, it�s a feel-good comedy with some gross-out moments, but it has its heart in the right place and has enough originality to pass my litmus test. |
