Benchwarmers Wins the Game

Everyone loves a good comedy. There is nothing better than a film that causes someone to laugh out loud, not just a few times, but continuously. The Benchwarmers is one of those comedies.
The Benchwarmers stars Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder as three men who were bullied in their youth. One day they decide to help out a young boy being picked on by challenging the team of boys bullying him to a baseball game. The father of the bullied boy hears about what has happened and decides to hold a baseball tournament where the winner gets a brand new stadium.
Schneider plays Gus, who will do anything to help boost the confidence of the bullied children as well as his two dorky friends. Spade plays Richie, a video store worker who has problems talking to girls and has to take care of his eccentric brother, who is afraid of the sun. Heder plays Clark, a paperboy that still lives with his mother. With their combined performances, these three make for an awesome comedic trio.
Reggie Jackson makes a cameo and attempts to teach the lead actors to play baseball. His methods include hitting mailboxes with a baseball bat and throwing around a hot potato.
The Benchwarmers has a nice blend of physical comedy and witty one-liners. There is also less “stupid” humor than we have come to expect from Rob Schneider movies. I found myself laughing out loud for most of the film.
The cast is composed of many ex-Saturday Night Live cast members, including Schneider, Spade, Tim Meadows and Jon Lovitz. This has become typical of films produced by Adam Sandler.
 The Benchwarmers does more than just entertain, it has a few good morals. The first is that bullying is not a good thing and could have detrimental affects on the person being bullied. Also, it shows that sports should not just be trying to win, but they should be fun as well.
This film was very entertaining and included some great messages.  I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good laugh.
Grade: A-

By Casey Vanderwall
cev7732@sjfc.edu

Parents everywhere should enjoy The Benchwarmers (PG 13) for the simple reason that it teaches a very basic lesson to children. While this movie shows children at their meanest, it also shows just how much damage is done to a child who has been rejected by his/her peers.
People being mean-spirited exist everywhere and in every age group, and The Benchwarmers shows that both children and their parents hold the capacity to be mean spirited. Benchwarmers teaches what it means to be part of a team and that everyone can play, through the means of a baseball game.
Gus (Rob Schneider), Richie (David Spade) and Clark (Jon Heder) are a couple of guys who appear to be the town misfits. Gus is the only one of the trio that seems to have stable employment, but tends to just leave his job to hang out with his friends.
After catching the neighborhood kids bullying some younger, less athletic kids, the three friends set out to put the bullies and their coaches in their place. Of the three, Gus is the only one who has any real talent with baseball.
Despite the fact that those three men decide to take on teams of kids who know how to play baseball, they develop a fan base of “nerds and geeks”; kids who are ordinarily picked last for teams in gym class.
Directed by Dennis Dugan, The Benchwarmers uses a sophomoric sort of humor in order to get across the deeper meaning of the movie.
While the movie uses the sort of humor that entails farting, projectile vomit and the destruction of private property, Dugan uses this humor in order to catch the attention of his intended audience: children. Benchwarmers is a lighthearted movie that children everywhere will find hilarious.

Grade: B-

By Cristina Kettles
cmk2361@sjfc.edu