Dodgeball(2004)
20th Century Fox Jun 18, 2004 | Wide
A group of misfits enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in order to save their cherished local gym from the onslaught of a corporate health fitness chain.
Releases
Original Release | Jun 18, 2004
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Box Office Results
Results
$30,070,196
$114,326,736
$54,096,491
$168,423,227
Current Showtimes
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(U.S. Only)
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital,SDDS,DTS
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: Germany,United States
Language: English,German
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) is the owner of Average Joe's, a small and financially unsuccessful gym with a handful of loyal members. Peter was already struggling to pay the power and water bills for his gym.When he defaults on the gym's mortgage, it is purchased by his rival White Goodman (Ben Stiller), a fitness guru and owner of the successful Globo-Gym across the street. Globo-Gym has a sleek marketing pitch and caters to a rich client base. White considers ugliness and fatness to be genetic disorders. His gym also offers cosmetic surgeries to alter the physical appearance of his customers. White claims that he was once 600 pounds heavier and decided to take control of his life by founding Globo-Gym.In contrast, Average Joe's gym is a plain, brick covered building which looks old and run-down. Peter himself cannot even afford a new car and drives a junk mobile which breaks down very frequently. Even then, Peter supports his employees with their personal problems and encourages his customers to be a better version of themselves.Unless Peter can raise $50,000 in thirty days to cover his mortgage, White will foreclose on Average Joe's and demolish it to build a new auxiliary parking structure for his members. Attorney Katherine / Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor) is working on the transaction on behalf of the bank who has the mortgage. Kate is auditing Peter's financial statements and is also facilitating the sale of the business to White, in case Peter is not able to settle the accounts in time. White is also livid with Peter for sleeping with 3 of his trainers from Globo-Gym. White is proud that his gym is worth $4 million.White repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempts to charm Kate, and she instead develops a friendship with Peter while reviewing his financial records. White wants to take Kate out on a date, but she gets physically nauseated at the idea. Kate tells Peter that he has not collected any membership fees from his customers in 13 months.Average Joe's employees Dwight (Chris Williams) and Owen (Joel David Moore) and members Steve "the Pirate" (Alan Tudyk), Justin (Justin Long), and Gordon (Stephen Root) try to raise the money needed to save the gym. Justin studies in high school and wants to get into the cheer-leading squad to impress the captain, Amber. At the last year's tryouts, Justin was paired with a really obese girl named Martha. Justin was asked to lift Martha straight over his head but could not sustain her weight and she came crashing down on his face, straddling his face with her vagina and her behind. Justin rallies everyone behind the cause of saving the gym, as the gym is like a second home to them.An impromptu car wash suggested by Owen fails, as all the customers go to the car wash with skimpy clad girls across the street and nobody comes to Peter's car wash which had 4 guys in Speedos. Gordon suggests that they enter a dodge-ball tournament in Las Vegas with a $50,000 prize. They form a team with Peter and watch a 1950s-era training video narrated by dodge-ball legend "Patches" O'Houlihan (Hank Azaria). Patches says that the game was invented in ancient opium addicted China where severed heads were thrown at each other. The game is regulated by the ADAA or the American Dodgeball Association of America.Dodgeball is played with 6 players on each team and 6 rubber balls. The objective of the game is to eliminate all players of the opposing team by hitting them with balls. Patches is a 7-time ADAA all-star. If a player catches a ball before it hits the ground, then the player who threw it is out, and another player from your team gets to come back in the game. The 5 Ds of dodge-ball are Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge.Girl Scout Troop 417 easily defeats them at the sub-regional qualifiers the following day but are disqualified due to one member failing a drug test, resulting in Average Joe's winning by default.White has been spying on Average Joe's using a hidden camera and forms his own elite dodge-ball team to oppose them the Globo Gym Purple Cobras, and surprises Gordon by revealing he bypassed the mandatory qualification match due to his camaraderie with the chancellor. After watching their confrontation, Patches, now elderly, wheelchair user, approaches Peter. Patches (Rip Torn) volunteers to coach the Average Joe's team. Patches' training regimen includes throwing wrenches at the team, forcing them to dodge oncoming cars, and constantly berating them with insults.Kate demonstrates skill at the game but declines an offer to join the team as it would be a conflict of interest owing to her contract with White. In the meantime, to circumvent Kate's employer dating employee conflict of interest, White arranges for her to be fired from her law firm so he can pursue her romantically. Infuriated, Kate joins the Average Joe's team.At the tournament in Las Vegas, Average Joe's suffers early setbacks but manages to advance to the final round against Globo-Gym. The night before the match, Patches is killed by a falling sign. This shakes Peter's confidence. He expresses his fear that the team will lose to Globo-Gym and berates Steve for his childish pirate persona, causing Steve to leave the team.White offers Peter $100,000 for the deed to Average Joe's, which Peter accepts. The day of the final round Justin leaves to help his classmate Amber (Julie Gonzalo) with a cheer-leading competition after his rival Derek becomes severely injured, leaving Average Joe's short of players.Peter has a chance encounter with Lance Armstrong, who encourages him to rejoin his team, but by the time he arrives Average Joe's has already been forced to forfeit. Gordon finds a loophole in the rules that can overturn the forfeiture by vote of the judges, and Chuck Norris casts the tie-breaking vote to allow the team to play.After a fierce game, Peter and White face off in a sudden death match to determine the winner. Inspired by a vision of Patches, Peter blindfolds himself and is able to dodge White's throw and strike him, winning the championship and the prize money. White declares the victory meaningless, since Peter had sold Average Joe's to him the previous night, but Peter reveals that he used White's $100,000 to bet on Average Joe's to win. With the odds against them at 50 to 1, he has won $5 million.Peter buys a controlling interest in Globo-Gym, which now also includes Average Joe's, and fires White. Steve returns, appearing more normal, but revives his pirate persona when Peter reveals their winnings as "buried treasure". Joyce, a friend of Kate's who flew from Guam to witness the final match, arrives and kisses her passionately, shocking Peter. Kate then reveals her bisexuality and kisses Peter similarly. Peter begins a relationship with Kate, while Justin and Amber marry and are expecting a child, and Owen begins dating Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivichski (Missi Pyle) from the Globo Gym team.Peter opens youth dodge-ball classes at Average Joe's, while White becomes obese by drowning his sorrows in junk food.
Storyline
- White Goodman ( Ben Stiller ) is the owner and founder of Globo Gym, and would love nothing more than owning Average Joe's Gymnasium. Peter LaFleur ( Vince Vaughn ) doesn't want to lose his gym to Goodman, but can't find a way to get $50,000 in time. Peter and his gang of gym buddies think of ways to raise money, finally settling on winning a dodge ball tournament. White Goodman retaliates by creating his own dodge ball team to finish off Peter. Peter's team doesn't do too well, until legendary ADAA champ Patches O'Houlihan ( Rip Torn ) turns up ready to train them. — FilmFanUK Globo Gym is a beacon of human physical prowess and perfection, a shining example of human physical fitness with several million in capital and multiple locations. It's run by White Goodman ( Ben Stiller ), who's not just the founder of Globo Gym, but the first customer and creator of the lifestyle. Right next door on the other hand is Average Joe's Gymnasium. It's run by Peter LaFluer ( Vince Vaughn . As popular as Globo Gym is, unfortunately, Average Joe's is none of the things that Globo Gym is. As White Goodman plots a hostile takeover of Average Joe's, Peter LaFluer does everything he can short of robbing a bank. As he consults with his oddball, but closely knit membership on what to do, they ultimately settle on competing in the Las Vegas annual Dodgeball championship. They win a local regional qualifying match, and attract the attention of American Dodgeball Association Of America (ADAA) legend Patches O'Houlihan ( Rip Torn ) , who agrees to become their new coach. With the help of an attractive lawyer ( Christine Taylor ) who would want nothing more than to see White Goodman on the losing end of the finals, they quickly become sensations on a 8th seed cable network. Will Average Joe's win it all and become true underdog heroes, or will White Goodman succeed with the hostile takeover? — halo1k The odd members of a local gym rally together in order to save their beloved gym from becoming yet another property of a heartless national chain, In order to raise the needed funds, they enter into an international sports competition, with a cash prize for the winner. The competition? Dodgeball. — Huggo Drowning in debt, Peter LaFleur, the owner of the shabby Average Joe's Gym, is with his back to the wall. Facing imminent foreclosure and fierce competition from White Goodman, the narcissistic founder of the multimillion Globo Gym America Corporation, suddenly, Peter has an epiphany: to save the business, he'll have to assemble a team and compete in the annual Dodgeball Tournament in Las Vegas. However, has Peter's out-of-shape team what it takes to defeat White's bad-to-the-bone Purple Cobras? — Nick Riganas 1 more All
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