As a former kid who was often bullied and picked last or next to last for any school sports team, I can commiserate with anyone who's experienced the same. Similarly, I have a soft spot for films that depict such characters, their plight and, occasionally, their revenge in one form or another, on the bullies, jocks or other such tormentors.
While it would seem to be one of those films filled with such subject matter and themes, "The Benchwarmers" is just a dumbed-down, sophomoric and juvenile comedy at heart. Not surprisingly, it comes from Adam Sandler's production arm and contains the same sort of material one would have found in his earlier films before the actor decided to go a bit more serious.
Accordingly, there are dimwitted and otherwise socially maladroit characters, gross out material of several varieties, and a general frat boy mentality as if channeled through the comedic tastes of middle school aged boys.
Unfortunately, it also contains the unholy cinematic trifecta of comedic "actors" - Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder. One need only be reminded of some of their previous efforts -- "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," "Joe Dirt" and "Napoleon Dynamite" -- to see what's generally in store here. Barely an actual movie and more of a hodgepodge of purported comedic scenes and plenty of montages, the film arrives courtesy of director Dennis Dugan ("Big Daddy," "Happy Gilmore") who works from a script by Allen Covert & Nick Swardson (two of the three scribes responsible for "Grandma’s Boy").
The basic premise concerns a trio of adult losers with varying degrees of maturity and/or social skills who agree to take on a bunch of bullying little leaguers in a tournament with the title "Mel's Tournament of Little Baseballers and Three Older Guys." That's about the comedic zenith of wit in what naturally will make viewers think of something of a cross between "Revenge of the Nerds" and "The Bad News Bears."
Unfortunately, neither the cast nor crew manage to do much of anything particularly novel, interesting or actually funny with the material. Schneider pretty much plays the straight man here whose character attributes -- including an amazing proficiency at baseball, an unlikely gorgeous wife and a late in the game revelation that's supposed to shake things up -- are decidedly less than credible.
Spade does just his usual shtick (the sarcastic and seemingly wise, but wimpy character, this time with a bad rug up top), while Heder is only one chromosome away from being his previous Dynamite character (either he can't act or he's now forever typecast as the mouth-breathing, spastic and dimwitted nerd).
Unless you fall into the target demographic of tween and early teen boys, it's highly unlikely you'll find much if any of the material funny. While even some of the worst comedies can occasionally get me to laugh, I don't recall even a random chuckle emanating from what could easily be deemed the axis of cinematic evil (stooges they are, but not of the capital letter variety).
More "Saturday Night Live" alums are present, including Tim Meadows as a supposedly mean coach (he pales in comparison to Craig Kilborn who chews up the one-dimensional scenery with glee) and John Lovitz playing the former nerd turned billionaire with plenty of expensive adult toys. Something of a steroid enhanced version of similar material found in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," Mel has full-size "Star Wars" props as well as KITT from the old TV show "Knight Rider" (complete with the voice and techno-pop soundtrack) and a Batmobile (sadly without that TV's signature fanfare).
The most annoying element -- which was difficult to choose due to the plethora of choices -- has to be co-writer Swardson playing Spade's reclusive brother character who lives in a closet and fears the sun and most everything and everyone else (no, he's not a cowardly vampire). If you find his high-pitched shrieking, Heder constantly picking his nose, Schneider and a kid spritzing each other with their syllables, several instances of squatting and farting in another person's face or many scenes of people or things being hit with baseballs and bats as hilarious, then you'll likely be in hog heaven with this offering.
On the other hand, if an insipid and poorly constructed excuse of a plot, scattershot direction, and "B" level comedic performances aren't your cup of tea, you'd likely be better off skipping this barely hit pop fly. Out just about as soon as it begins, nobody scores but plenty of viewers will be left stranded when this film comes up to bat. "The Benchwarmers" rates as a 2 out of 10.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
