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Duck, You Suckers

By Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle | June 21, 2004
There’s a place in life for movies like this – goofy and lowbrow but never truly icky; the good guys are lovable losers and the bad guys have frosted feathered hair and unitards with inflatable codpieces. There’s very little plot to go around, so writer-director Thurber (in his feature debut) sets up a revolving door of cameos and a tag-team ensemble of notable second bananas. In its most labored moments, Dodgeball is an overlong skit. But those moments pass rapidly – Thurber, who’s made short films, has a better sense of timing than Stiller exhibits when he directs himself, as in Zoolander – and the movie doesn’t truly beat its jokes to death. There are a few mean-spirited moments but Dodgeball is practically genteel in comparison to your typical mass-market summer comedy. But let’s not kid: This movie’s raison d'être is putting Stiller’s pumped-up merkin in harm’s way.
Tags: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Rawson Marshall Thurber

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