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The Benchwarmers is about three adults who, after feeling that they should take a stand against a bunch of bullies, creates a three-man youth baseball team.
I'm beginning to see a growing trend in the reviews for this movie: the reactions for the movie are either "This is the funniest thing ever!" or "This is the worst thing in humanity!" To be honest, I don't like this movie, but I'm not angry about it. If you're looking for a so-bad-it's-good movie or a movie that you want to just get all mad about to release some pent-up rage, the Benchwarmers is not for you, as you will watch about five minutes, turn off the TV, and say to yourself, "What kind of person would even agree to direct this movie?"
Dennis Dugan would, apparently. If you don't know who Dennis Dugan is, he is the same person who, while directing the surprisingly entertaining Happy Gilmore, is also the director infamous for Grown Ups, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and Jack and Jill, which received too many Razzie Awards to count.
The Benchwarmers, while it is rated PG-13 and has numerous jokes on homosexuality and alcoholism, is very juvenile with all of its other jokes. The first scene of the movie is some kid farting in someone's face. It sets the simplistic and juvenile tone for the rest of the movie, but not in a good way, or even in a mediocre way at that. The comedy is a mix of stuff you would find on children's television at the time and the worst episodes of Family Guy.
While the comedy (or lack thereof) will make you experience a mixture of boredom and hate, the plot will make you feel like that as well. The Benchwarmers is about as generic as an underdog movie's plot goes, save for an abysmal ending. Even the Bad News Bears remake that came a year before it was better than this.
None of the characters are likeable at all, and instead they show off how low making comedy characters at the expense of actual personality, development, and common sense can go. Rob Schneider is at least mildly like a sympathetic human being as far as his character Gus goes, but that's like saying a Big Mac mildly has the contents of actual beef. Gus is only played off as the cool guy because everyone else is just stupid. Howie, played by Nick Swardson, is annoying, stupid, and only there to make really juvenile jokes. Clark is pretty annoying as well, cracking unfunny jokes and being an unlikeable pervert.
If you're looking for a sports movie which makes you want to root for the underdog, watch Dodgeball. Watch the original Bad News Bears. Heck, even watch the remake of Bad News Bears over this turd. Don't show it to your kids, as there are far too many jokes about sex and alcohol and other adult themes in this movie that they'll be bothering you about shortly afterward. Don't show it to any teens or adults, as they'll probably hate you for it.
1/10
