Dodgeball was plainly hilarious. I am a big Ben Stiller fan from his movies, Reality Bites, Starsky & Hutch, Keeping the Faith, Along Came Polly, Duplex, and of course, Meet the Parents [laughed the hardest on this one!]. However, I wasn’t expecting much from this film. But I started laughing as soon as the movie rolled. *Ben Stiller plays the clueless proprietor of Globo Gym. A crew of social misfits who patronize Average Joe’s, the local gym, band together to save their beloved fitness center from being taken over by their competitor, Globo Gym, a fitness club chain which is a corporate behemoth. The motley group of rejects includes a gangly geek whose illusions revolve around a cheerleader way out of his league, a self-acclaimed pirate, a young simpleton, an enthusiast of far-out sports, and a smart ass who’s actually pea-brained. Average Joe’s owner Peter LaFleur, played by Vince Vaughn leads his team of, well, losers against the cocky White Goodman [Stiller]* The cool nonchalant attitude of Vince Vaughn in this movie and Ben’s slapstick comedy complemented each other. What impressed me is how the director was able to make the game as appealing and intense as basketball movies. If you need quite a laugh, Dodgeball is worth your dime.
Four buckets of popcorn! and laughter!
Public Enemies
Johnny Depp’s charismatic lead performance can make you fall in love with a well-dressed bank robber and America’s most wanted. This gangster flick had the right blend of action scenes, suspense and drama. There were only enough tablespoons of bloody scenes to feel the realism of the movie and right amount of nervous tension without overly doing the sound effects.
John Dillinger: I was raised on a farm in Morrisville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn’t know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you… what else you need to know?
Billie Frechette: Why are you in such a hurry?
John Dillinger: Because when you’re looking at what I’m looking, you’d be in a hurry too.
John Dillinger: They ain’t tough enough, smart enough or fast enough. I can hit any bank I want, any time. They got to be at every bank, all the time.
John Dillinger: [nodding at money on a table] That’s your money, mister?
Bank Teller: [nervously] Yes.
John Dillinger: We’re here for the bank’s money, not yours. Put it away.
Melvin Purvis: What keeps you up nights, Mr. Dillinger?
John Dillinger: Coffee.
John Dillinger: We’re having too good a time today. We ain’t thinking about tomorrow.
John Dillinger: Well if it isn’t the man who shot Pretty-Boy Floyd. Good thing ’cause he sure wasn’t Whiz-Kid Floyd.
John Dillinger: [Approaching group of police officers] What’s the score?
[last lines]
Billie Frechette: They say you’re the man who shot him.
Charles Winstead: That’s right. One of ’em.
Billie Frechette: So why are you coming to see me? To see the damage you done?
Charles Winstead: No. I came here because he asked me to. When he went down, he said somethin’. I put my ear next to his mouth, and what I think what he said was this.