The Benchwarmers (2006)

The Worst Film Ever

Sorry, this movie sucks

A Disappointing Continuation

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It always amazes (and amuses) me when I read negative reviews of comedies like this one, describing them as 'stupid', 'silly' and so on. I can't believe anybody would watch a movie like this thinking they would get anything other than a ridiculous and intentionally dumb comedy. 'The Benchwarmers' knows what it wants to be and never tries to be anything else.This is one of those love/hate comedy films that some people with find hilarious and other will roll their eyes and switch off 20 minutes in. It will appeal mostly to those who enjoyed the likes of 'Napoleon Dynamite', and Jon Heder is once again hilarious in this film playing a character similar to Napoleon. I can understand why 'The Benchwarmers' isn't everyone's cup of tea, but anybody who enjoys light-hearted, harmless silly comedy will love this movie.

The Benchwarmers is about as dimwitted and sophomoric as you come to expect from a comedy produced by Adam Sandler. This movie marks yet another attempt by a comedic trio trying to garnish laughs through absent-minded humor ranging from fart jokes, to pee jokes, to seemingly nonstop slapstick gags that may have been funny when watching 'The Three Stooges' back in the 60s. Nowadays, those jokes just fall flat. Stepping the foot into the main roles are Rob Schneider and David Spade, allies of the Adam Sandler filmography, and Jon Heder, who gained popularity for his role in 'Napoleon Dynamite'. And if these actors prove anything here, it is that juvenile humor including jokes of the scatological category just aren't funny anymore, unless you are an elementary schooler where that humor is sadly still popular in that demographic. If there are any benefits raised from this slapdash comedic, it is that there are just a few laughs, but they come few and far in between. This film follows Gus (played by Rob Schneider), a man with a low-paying job and a wife named Liz (played by Molly Sims); not much else. After beating a group of kids who he witnesses bullying a poor little boy in a game of baseball, he and his friends Clark (played by Jon Heder), a paperboy, and Richie (played by David Spade), a video store clerk, form a baseball team and play in a tournament against Little League teams, and recruit a millionaire techno geek Mel (played by Jon Lovitz) as their coach. There are plenty of comedies with sports serving as the narrative core that manage to shower in some clever laughs and charm to invite moviegoers in for a good time. This movie is not one of them. The best time this film has to offer to shooting a few somewhat funny jokes once every fourth time the characters on the baseball field making fools out of themselves. The main problem is that these actors seem to have nothing better to do than to plunge deep into dull sophomore humor to the point where you feel like your brain cells slowly depleting as the movie goes on. It soon becomes a continuous and almost predictable streak of how many times Jon Heder's character bangs his head or whacks himself with the bat from just being plain silly. And for the lowest common denominator, several scenes of characters farting another character's face. Unless you are a child in elementary school, this comedic gimmick is just not funny. Arguably the actor who delivers the most laughs is Rob Schneider, and his delivery of goods come far and few in between. While this is not his worst role, it certainly isn't one to leave you cheering with laughter. The rest of the actors including Jon Heder and David Spade are given nothing valuable to work with other than to spit loads of obnoxious dialogue, while Nick Swardson is tasked with nothing but to act like a goofy man-child who has fear of being out in the sun each time he makes his way on screen. At the end, the story tries to win your heart by sporting a cheesy little message about the consequences of the bullying. It is a good one, but definitely not one many people haven't heard before. The Benchwarmers is a slapdash sports-themed comedy that suffers from an excess of dimwitted potty humor and dull slapstick gags. This film falls so short of comedic diamonds it willy likely to leave you checking the clock more often than investing your attention to the screen. If one were the edit out this movie and make an online clip consisting of the funny parts, they would be looking at around one minute. Now that is disappointing.

Not funny for older adults and not suitable for younger kids. There are attempts at humor...but failure at it. There were sexual connotations that were inappropriate at times for younger Kids. I believe this movie was an attempt to use the then recent fame of the star of Napoleon Dynamite. He was awful. It was a sad attempt to capture on his recent fame. The other 2 actors are better than this. I can't believe Hollywood put out a movie like this.Plot was feeble.

Gus (Rob Schneider) is a fair ballplayer but he was picked on as a kid. He's now a landscaper married to Liz (Molly Sims) who is only concern about having a baby. Richie (David Spade) is an annoying little video store clerk. Clark (Jon Heder) is the hopelessly idiotic newspaper delivery boy. They come to the rescue of a chubby geek being picked on by a little league baseball team. The three guy challenge and win against the kids team. The chubby kid's billionaire nerd dad Mel (Jon Lovitz) comes up with a tournament idea. The three guys play against all the kids baseball teams for the prize of a real ballpark.This is a really stupid premise. I'm not saying this is illogical or unrealistic. That goes without saying. This is a problem because the 3 guys aren't actually underdogs. They need to be underdogs in a sports movie sense. I'm not sure it's that much fun watching adults beating little kids. And quite frankly, I would just intentionally walk Gus every time.The only saving grace is that Rob Schneider is actually likable in this. He's not playing his usual jerk character. When Molly Sims pops up for the first time, I had to roll my eyes. After Rob plays his character for awhile, I can see the marriage happening. He just needs to play this character in a better movie. This is a poor mess that a late night writing session created. I bet somebody had a little much and thought it would be funny to have adults win against little kids baseball. It's not actually funny and only a couple of physical gags garner any chuckles.