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The Benchwarmers (2006)

Director: Dennis Dugan

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Movie review

From Time Out London

More painful man-child pratfalls courtesy of producer Adam Sandler in this anti-jock sports frolic whose major plus-point is its merciful brevity. Landscape gardener Rob Schneider was once a shy kid who didn’t get the chance to show his prowess on the baseball diamond, so he takes his chance now by joining social inadequate David Spade and mummy’s boy Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite himself) to confront the slick Little Leaguers who’ve bullied the area’s junior nerds off the park. Their pro-geek stand captures the attention of eccentric billionaire Jon Lovitz and soon there’s a tournament arranged, with a brand-new stadium the glittering prize. It’s quite literally men against boys but, bizarrely, we’re meant to be rooting for the grown-ups giving the sporty kids an ass-kicking – at least when the movie’s not wallowing in fart jokes or product placement, which is much of the time. And just when the baseball slapstick starts wearing thin, a final-reel gush of truly cynical sentiment on behalf of the physically challenged sends the ordeal-factor off the scale.

Author: Trevor Johnston 2006-05-30 10:45:02

Time Out London Issue 1867: May 31-June 7 2006