Spoilers follow...
Since every comment on here so far falls into either the "absolutely loved it" or "my god that was a piece of crap" categories, I'll throw in my slightly more balanced review of this movie.
Look, it is what it is. Stupid and amusing. Rob Schneider mostly plays it straight here, so most of the laughs come from David Spade and Jon Heder as his two incredibly nerdy, awkward, and uncoordinated friends. Heder unfortunately is doing a rehash of his Napoleon Dynamite character, but he still wrings some laughs out of it. Spade's acting consists mainly of wearing a silly wig and spouting one-liners with perfect comic delivery. My favorite performance in the movie comes from Nick Swardson (who also co-wrote the script) as Spade's agoraphobic, albino-esquire brother. He's really funny. Also, Chipps Cooney as the crazy old guy they ding and ditch is hilarious.
SPOILERS The plot is pretty much inconsequential. The third act drags when it's revealed that Rob Schneider was a terrible bully growing up and he's been trying to assuage his guilty conscience by sticking up for the nerdy kids now. When everyone discovers this, all Rob's friends and admirer's feel betrayed, and he has to face the little person he tormented so badly as children that the guy ended up in a mental hospital and now lives in his mom's basement. Basically, it gets really weird and emotional, with heartfelt speeches of apology and acceptance. None of that's funny.
Also, a little personal commentary on the message I got from the ending (MORE SPOILERS): I found the apparent message of the movie to be a little distressing. What happens is that the adult Benchwarmers don't play in the final game, instead letting the nerdy kids play the tough bullies. By the last inning, the nerds are getting their asses kicked like 27-0. But when the bullies see that the nerds are getting cheered despite the fact that they suck, the bullies become bitter at their own hyper-competitive coach, and decide to let the nerds score a run in the name of fun and friendship. And then all the nerds celebrate and are happy because they scored.
So, the message I got from this ending is, it's perfectly okay to patronize people, and to be patronized. Apparently there's no value in working hard and practicing to get better at something--it's just as good to have the other guys take pity on you and let you win. It's celebrating athletic mediocrity in the same way we celebrate academic mediocrity in schools where teachers don't use red pens to mark mistakes because then the kids' self-esteem might be hurt. That's a bad mentality to be instilling in our society.
Since every comment on here so far falls into either the "absolutely loved it" or "my god that was a piece of crap" categories, I'll throw in my slightly more balanced review of this movie.
Look, it is what it is. Stupid and amusing. Rob Schneider mostly plays it straight here, so most of the laughs come from David Spade and Jon Heder as his two incredibly nerdy, awkward, and uncoordinated friends. Heder unfortunately is doing a rehash of his Napoleon Dynamite character, but he still wrings some laughs out of it. Spade's acting consists mainly of wearing a silly wig and spouting one-liners with perfect comic delivery. My favorite performance in the movie comes from Nick Swardson (who also co-wrote the script) as Spade's agoraphobic, albino-esquire brother. He's really funny. Also, Chipps Cooney as the crazy old guy they ding and ditch is hilarious.
SPOILERS The plot is pretty much inconsequential. The third act drags when it's revealed that Rob Schneider was a terrible bully growing up and he's been trying to assuage his guilty conscience by sticking up for the nerdy kids now. When everyone discovers this, all Rob's friends and admirer's feel betrayed, and he has to face the little person he tormented so badly as children that the guy ended up in a mental hospital and now lives in his mom's basement. Basically, it gets really weird and emotional, with heartfelt speeches of apology and acceptance. None of that's funny.
Also, a little personal commentary on the message I got from the ending (MORE SPOILERS): I found the apparent message of the movie to be a little distressing. What happens is that the adult Benchwarmers don't play in the final game, instead letting the nerdy kids play the tough bullies. By the last inning, the nerds are getting their asses kicked like 27-0. But when the bullies see that the nerds are getting cheered despite the fact that they suck, the bullies become bitter at their own hyper-competitive coach, and decide to let the nerds score a run in the name of fun and friendship. And then all the nerds celebrate and are happy because they scored.
So, the message I got from this ending is, it's perfectly okay to patronize people, and to be patronized. Apparently there's no value in working hard and practicing to get better at something--it's just as good to have the other guys take pity on you and let you win. It's celebrating athletic mediocrity in the same way we celebrate academic mediocrity in schools where teachers don't use red pens to mark mistakes because then the kids' self-esteem might be hurt. That's a bad mentality to be instilling in our society.
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