Movie Review: The Cable Guy

I didn’t want to go to Netflix because->see last few posts on my blog->but I was with friends and they wanted to watch a comedy and none of the films I have in my room waiting for me are comedies. So we’re scrolling through and I’m cringing as the titles continue to cross from right to left until this swooped in to save the day.

I’d seen the second half of The Cable Guy multiple times on TV but I’d never seen the whole thing in one sitting. I’d always catch it half way through.

Steven Kovacs’ (Matthew Broderick) life is in a downward spiral after a marriage proposal gets him kicked out of his love’s apartment. Now in a new residence, he can’t get the cable to work. Just a bad day overall. Then the cable guy shows up.

To call cable guy Chip Douglas (Jim Carrey) goofy would be true but only a page into the literature laid before us. Chip is so much more than that, as Steven will find out in the next few days. Chip’s pushy, invasive personality proves to be exactly what laid-back, passive Steven needs and a friendship ensues.

Chip’s eccentricity and brashness, as well as a prevalent lisp, are his defining traits but there’s also his sometimes odd sense of humor, his awkwardly fluid body movements and hand gestures and let’s not forget those terrible comebacks.

Yet with all that said, I’ll go ahead and say it: Chip is a likable guy. He’s weird and you’d probably be embarrassed to be seen in public with the guy sometimes but you’d still be by his side at the end of the day, or at least I would. Some parallels to Catcher in the Rye‘s Holden Caulfield came to mind although I doubt that was done on purpose. Either way, Chip is a pitiful character who tries too hard to fit in. Not a role model for children.

However, Steven sticks with the guy and even has fun with Chip once in a while. Eventually that routine becomes monotonous and things turn for the worse when Chip oversteps his bounds but Ben Stiller, this time in a directorial capacity, demonstrates such a person has the ability to co-exist in this world.

Chip may be clingy and mentally unhealthy but that is due to child neglect, not his personality.

All of this has nothing to do with the plot whatsoever but it mattered to me because it clarified that a character like this isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Rarely do comedies bother with that. Billy Madison is a perfect example.

A comedy willing to step away from the material and create a sidebar of true narrative form and meaning will get a lot of bonus points from me. Remember, takeaways are what make films live on. What makes The Cable Guy memorable? Stuff like this.

Chip does all in his power to make Steven’s life a good time and never forgoes that objective. Selfless dedication that borders obsessive stalking, Chip always means well but people don’t always take what’s gifted to them with open arms and a brimming grin.

When Steven tries to ex-communicate Chip from his life, it doesn’t work out the way he hoped. Chip doesn’t give up. He pushes further.

With the vengeance of a child but the cunning of an adult, Chip finds his way into the fiance’s good graces and into a family get-together that brings a whole new sense of awkward into Steven’s life. While the dinner and festivities afterward prove a brilliant laugh factory, they also convince me a character like Chip isn’t out of the realm of possibility, only making the character writing look all that more impressive because very often comedy writers seek to acquire the most absurd person they can think of rather than mimic a character off of real life experience. Chip carries enough fiction and real-life interaction to make him one-of-a-kind and man, is he fun to watch.

However, I doubt it would be half as fun without Jim Carrey in some of his finest work. This film reminds me how much I miss funny people and how much I’m sure they miss us. With Robin Williams passing and Jim Carrey’s apparent disappearance from the silver screen, it hastens me to say we’re entering a new generation of actors for the genre. My only hope is that the industry can do better than James Franco and Seth Rogen or else comedies might not be a thing in twenty years.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog, I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.  

90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (American Beauty, Gone Girl, Mulan, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (The Cabin in the Woods, Tears of the Sun, Edge of Tomorrow, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Young Guns)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too.(Snowpiercer, The Family, When the Game Stands Tall, Black Hawk Down, Red Dawn(2012))

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Twisted, Parker, House at the End of the Street, The Raven, Dead Snow)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Rage, Zoolander, The Expendables 3, Homefront, G.I. Joe: Retaliation)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Erased, I, Frankenstein, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Billy Madison)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30′s ironically define the 1930′s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (Centurion, Planet of the Apes, Stonados, Redemption, Pride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Colony, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, The Grey, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Thor: The Dark World)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Sabotage, Gallowwalkers, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Safe, Watchmen)

My score for The Cable Guy: 86.

If there’s one thing I appreciate in my comedy’s, it’s distinguished characters. The Cable Guy gives us that with a limitless Jim Carrey in one of his best roles and while Matthew Broderick is a sideshow and Jack Black seems thrown in for the hell of it, this is Jim Carrey’s show from start to finish, so it’s hard to not have fun with this.

Movie Review: Zoolander

Zoolander. According to my peers during high school, one of the best comedies of all-time. As I look at the trailer now, I see their point. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell? Sounds like a blast.

The concept’s original, centering around the lives of male models and Zoolander’s accent is overexaggerated but still brings smirks. Stiller tries hard, you have to give him that. Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell though? Not on screen even close to enough. It’s a pity. This could’ve been so much more witty and grin-inducing than it is.

Like most comedies of the last decade and a half, plot is given little thought in the film’s production. The one-liners, timing and obnoxious character traits are the core. While Zoolander’s primary purpose is indirectly stated from the get-go based off the preposterous plot components, the quality of humor is far too dry for my liking.

Comedies frustrate me because they are oblivious to all of the other important emotions and segments of life, aside from an almost mandatory but always pitiful attempt to pull heart-strings in the intermediate stages. There is more to life than laughing and goofing off.

What about the everyday problems we constantly find ourselves drowning in?

What about the friends always taking something you say and reverberating that message to others out of context?

What about the coworkers making the same irresponsible decisions every day? These are things relatable to a lot of people. Why is no one doing routines centered around these things? I’m not a genius, don’t claim to be but am I the only one who would love to see Stiller/Wilson/Ferrell go to an everyday, blue-collar job and then go to a bar and talk about all the things wrong with their lives? I would love that, having them talk about all the things they’d like to say to their boss but don’t, about all the things they’d like to say to some of their naïve friends but don’t.

It wouldn’t be hard to write. You could interview people on the street about their lives, about things they would like to say but don’t and incorporate them in the script if you wanted to. It would be easy money and better entertainment.

The screenwriters for comedies these days are utter trash. They really are. It’s garbage material. You remember the trailer for Tammy? Who, in their right mind, would willingly go see that for any other reason aside from Melissa McCarthy? You could tell that was a flop from the get-go and I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I read reviews running it through a meat slicer. I’m sure it deserved every ounce of the criticism.

The comedic spectrum is one-note and uneducated. It’s unwavering flatness sickens me and is no doubt one of the underlying reasons why I don’t laugh much. Film and television are meant to enliven life and make us smile despite the chaos around us. Movies like Tammy, even to an extent films like Zoolander, make me facepalm and question what I’m doing with my life.

The comedies of today could be graphed on a timeline and doing so would not be the least bit difficult. They’re far too unorganized and blatantly stupid to be entertaining, unless blatant stupidity is what you’re looking for. If you’re fine with these things, then I guess you’re thrilled with Hollywood right now.

Name a comedy that’s significantly impacted you in the comments and I don’t mean the funniest one you’ve seen. I mean one you’ve watched that began a new outlook on life or at least a look at yourself in the mirror. Mine would be Click. Adam Sandler’s last big flick and in my opinion, his best, Click demonstrated the importance of family first and did so while changing genres in the middle of the film to a surprisingly effective and efficient effect.

Try to name another one. I can’t. I can’t think of another comedy that’s made an impact. That’s sad.

Comedies are not looking for that. They’re looking for light-hearted fun and I respect and understand that but when you don’t deliver on the light-hearted fun, you’ve got nothing. I’ve got no takeaways aside from the fact the film was a drag and did not need to be viewed and when you have million dollar budgets, big name production companies and comedy’s best actors, there is no excuse for that. None. You’re incompetent and need kicked off the red carpet. Also, I hate you for wasting hours of my life on a continual basis while I continue to trek around cinemas, film stores, and Netflix in the pursuit for a decent comedy. You have all the tools and materials to make another Click but you continue to settle for the next Tammy. In the words of one of my British friends, sod off.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog, I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.  

90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Gone Girl, Mulan, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Age of Extinction)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (The Cabin in the Woods, Tears of the Sun, Edge of Tomorrow, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Young Guns)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too.(When the Game Stands Tall, Black Hawk Down, Red Dawn(2012), Maleficent, Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (The Raven, Dead Snow, Rubber, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (The Expendables 3, Homefront, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Vantage Point, The Starving Games)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Billy Madison, A Haunted House, 300: Rise of an Empire, Cowboys and Aliens)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30′s ironically define the 1930′s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (Centurion, Planet of the Apes, Stonados, Redemption, Pride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Grey, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Thor: The Dark World, The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Gallowwalkers, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Safe, Watchmen, Clash of the Titans)

My score for Zoolander: 56.

Comedy needs the next big act to step up and redefine the genre like Adam Sandler of the 90’s and early 2000’s. Aside from a three-minute sequence between Stiller, Wilson and Taylor, this film fails to hit on an average level. Stiller and Wilson had sufficient chemistry but it dissolves in order to stay with the male-model-is-a-trained-killer plot no one cares about. Distracting and nonessential cameos add to an already short run-time and Ferrell’s left acting like a loony bin in his cumulative ten-minute stand-up.

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I’m not usually one for the slow drama, but the trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty intrigued me. It seemed like it was a message of life for the big screen and so I went to see it, although much later then I had planned to.

Ben Stiller plays Walter Mitty and instantaneously, you know there’s something unique about this guy. He’s a little peculiar. You know he’s got something going on in his head, and you’re curious. It ends up that Mitty zones out a lot, visualizing one thing, but doing another, because he doesn’t have the guts to do what he’d actually like to do. It’s as if he’s living in between two lives, the life he’d like to live and the life he’s currently living and he struggles with which one to live. It’s something I know I could relate to. Haven’t we all dreamed of doing something memorable, of being something more than ordinary? Whether it be through our actions or our minds, we all want to be a “somebody”, but being a “somebody” requires leaving your comfort zone, going beyond the boundaries of our normal interactions and getting out of our life cycle, something that requires more courage then we care to admit and something that few are willing to do. This is who Walter Mitty is and his simple life demonstrates that as does the superb acting of Ben Stiller. Known for his comedies, Stiller opens a new acting dimension with this one and does an extraordinary job with the material. It’s such a simple role and yet so complex, one that causes the audience to take heed of the smallest details.

The show never gets boring because Mitty’s imagination provides the audiences with spontaneous action sequences early on until the script has a firm grasp on its viewers.

It rams home the purpose of life through Life magazine’s mission statement a few times: “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of Life.” This touched me. It’s the most accurate explanation of life that I have heard of or read and it’s one I feel I can hold on to.

Walter Mitty makes us want to see the world and all that there is to offer, the big and the small, the safe and dangerous, and all of the other opposites you care to throw in here. He’s one man, but his story is uplifting and inspirational, one that makes you feel like a kid looking up to a role model, saying “I want to be that guy some day”. As someone who’s not a traveler and doesn’t intend to travel the world, this movie kept me thinking: What if I did? What if I dared to do the rash and risky, and live life more than normally, but extraordinarily? Will I travel the world someday? The answer is probably still no, but this film portrays a message of yolo the way that the term yolo is supposed to be used. Yolo is a precious term. It does NOT mean do stupid stuff and then use life as an excuse. I hate it when people use it like that. This is what it’s supposed to mean: You only live life once, so don’t waste it. Make the most of it because there’s no going back. There’s no turning back time no matter how much we may want to do so.

That is the message this movie instills in us and it does so through Stiller’s acting and some of the most phenomenal, lifelike visuals I’ve ever seen in film. I haven’t seen Gravity and I’m not sure I ever will, but for all the talk that movie’s visuals got, I’m surprised I never heard any talk about this film’s. When people say a picture says a thousand words, these are the pictures they’re talking about. All I could think of was how long it must have taken to go around the world and get all those shots.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (42, Just Go With It, Real Steel, Miracle, Scrooge)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Gangster Squad, Elf, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Poseidon, Iron Man)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (The Usual Suspects, 21 Jump Street, Escape Plan, Captain America: The First Avenger, Dawn of the Dead)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific Rim, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Disaster Movie)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (Along Came Polly, Aliens, Alien Resurrection, Full Metal Jacket, Thor)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot Games, The Great Gatsby, Pitch Black, Alien, Serendipity)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The Contract, Pride and Prejudice, Redemption)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears, Thor: The Dark World)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight Cowboy, Dark Fury, Alien 3)

My score for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: 92.

Directed, produced, and starring Ben Stiller, Stiller gives a performance worthy of a best actor nomination while also giving us a lesson on the true meaning of life. Had I seen this before I wrote my movies in 2013 post, this would have been a top five film of the year for me.

Movie Review: Along Came Polly

My college friend, Alex, pulled this movie out on Netflix and we watched it the other day, so thanks for the recommendation bud. Also, I apologize for not writing any movie reviews recently. Life at school has been busy and I’ve not gotten the chance to get a ride to the theater to see the new Riddick movie, so I apologize. I also saw a Jennifer Aniston- Adam Sandler rom-com on Friday entitled Just Go With It. I really wanted to review it for you guys and explain how great of a movie it really is, but I got sick soon after and was also overloaded with homework after getting healthy again. Now it has been too long since I’ve seen it to write a review that serves it justice. However, for the record, I would like to state that Just Go With It is now my second-favorite Adam Sandler movie and I would strongly recommend you watch it if you haven’t seen it before. It’s a sight to see.  Now let’s go to this Along Came Polly movie review.

After watching the great performance she gave in Just Go With It, I had high expectations for this movie once I saw that Jennifer Aniston was going to be in this one as well. Ben Stiller has gotten plenty of laughs from me in the past and so it seemed like a good duo.

Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller) is an insurance risk-assessment expert, who gets married and on the first night of his honeymoon, finds his new wife cheating on him. Needless to say, he’s not happy. Then, while at an art exhibit to waste time with his friend, Sandy Lyle (Philip Seymour Hoffman), to try to get his mind off of the whole thing, he runs into Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), a former junior high school classmate, who he then asks out on a date.

This movie, similar to Just Go With It, adds as much randomness, freak occurrences, and downright stupidity as it can. Most movies that implore such tactics I do not find funny. I find them stupid. Just Go With It was hilarious and fun with its randomness, and it was random but it still made sense. You had to just go with it and have fun with it, something that wasn’t too hard to do. With this movie, the randomness is just too far of a stretch, and it’s more stupid than it is funny. For example, Reuben has irritable bowel-syndrome and after Polly takes him to a Moroccan restaurant, which doesn’t bode well with his condition, Reuben uses the bathroom at Polly’s place. Only after finishing going the bathroom does Reuben realize there is no toilet paper. He then wipes himself with a towel, but then gets the great idea of throwing it in the toilet and hoping it flushes, which of course it doesn’t. Polly sees all the water coming out and opens the door to find Reuben in his underwear trying to unclog the toilet.

After all that, Reuben gets a call for a second date. What?! In what world does that happen? And it gets a lot worse and more stupid as the movie goes on. You can tell right from the get-go that Polly doesn’t have a lot going upstairs and it never really changes as the movie progresses so when the movie tries to get emotional towards the end, it doesn’t work. Reuben isn’t that smart himself and so it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the guy when his life gets turned upside down on numerous occasions. To add to it all, neither of them are really funny.

The person who gave me some real enjoyment in this movie was Sandy Lyle, Reuben’s friend. The guy is ridiculous and irrational, but the pure randomness of his actions is hilarious. The scenes he was in were the most enjoyable.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3, World War Z, 42)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Now You See Me, Man of Steel, Monster-In-Law, White House Down, Jobs)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (Oblivion, The Wolverine, Jagged Edge, Elysium)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific Rim, The Long Kiss Goodnight)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (The Hobbit, After Earth, Road to Perdition, Total Recall, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot Games, The Great Gatsby, Pitch Black)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The Contract, Pride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight Cowboy, Dark Fury)

My score for Along Came Polly: 52.

Sandy Lyle may have been entertaining, but he wasn’t a main character. The two main characters are boring and unintelligent. The plot is dumb and the script is poorly-written and doesn’t take advantage of the actors it has.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

Reuben is just not a smart guy and between him and Polly, it felt like I was watching two 6th graders date. It’s really hard to relate here. When Reuben’s wife Lisa comes back and says she wants to get back together, Reuben actually considers it! What?! What is the matter with this guy? Lisa didn’t even bother denying it when she got caught! She wanted to stay with Claude! She’s a total slut and not worth a thought, but Reuben considers it anyway! The guy’s an idiot! This movie is really dumb, guys. Just don’t watch it unless you’re looking for a really bad movie.

Movie Review: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Yesterday, two of my new friends down the hall, Alex and Kyle, suggested I watch the 2004 production, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Thanks for the recommendation guys.

This movie was popular back in the day, but I have to admit I never saw it. I don’t watch a lot of comedies these days, which is mostly because so many of these new comedies just don’t look any good. I also haven’t seen Vince Vaughn in anything before and many of my friends say he’s a bland actor, so I try to avoid him at all costs. However, Ben Stiller does know how to get a laugh out of me. Night at the Museum, Meet the Fockers, and Tropic Thunder all had their moments so I wasn’t so worried about him.

The plot is pretty simple. Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) maintains a gym called Average Joe’s right across the street from Globo-Gym, a big budget workout bonanza managed by White Goodman (Ben Stiller). Peter defaults on his mortgage and unless he’s able to get $50,000 to pay off the debt, Average Joe’s is closing down. Peter and his loyal gym members enter a dodgeball tournament to try and win the money, but are going to have to face off against numerous professional dodgeballer teams to do so.

Ben Stiller does a great job acting like an ecstatic, egotistical rich guy and while Vince Vaughn is definitely bland, the rest of the supporting cast evens out his poor performance by their solid back-up roles. Justin Long, who later starred in the blockbuster hit that was Live Free or Die Hard, did a great job with a stereotypical nerd who’s got issues with the ladies. His character was memorable for me despite the poor script he was given. Each character has enough screen time that they’re not taking too much, but just enough that their character is noticed and remembered. The humor is not over-bearing, but it’s also not like I can’t breathe I’m laughing so hard. It got some chuckles and smiles from me, but not much else.

Like most comedies, the plot line is weak but it has the basic outline that a movie needs in order for it to work. The filmmakers want to get the story on the road and get the laughs going. I understand the logic, but I’d like to see a comedy do something more, something unexpected. One of the reasons my favorite comedy is Adam Sandler’s Click is because the movie was different from any other comedy I had seen before. Adam Sandler’s character actually has character development and the plot is very simple but yet so great. The first half of the movie they throw joke after joke at me that got me howling and then the second half gets more serious, I care more and more about the characters, and there’s some genuine emotional scenarios. This movie doesn’t do anything like that because I don’t think it really cares about whether we care about the characters or not. Their only goal is laughter.

Once again, if you’re new to my blog,  I’ve always ranked movies on a scale of 0-100 (I don’t know why, I just always have). Here’s the grading scale.

 90-100  It’s a great movie and definitely one worth buying. (Iron Man 3, World War Z, 42)

80-89   It was a pretty good movie and definitely one worth seeing, but it doesn’t quite scratch my top ten percentile. (Now You See Me, Man of Steel, Monster-In-Law, White House Down, Jobs)

70-79   It’s okay but I’ve seen better. It has its moments, but it has its flaws, too. (Oblivion, The Wolverine, Jagged Edge, Elysium)

60-69   It’s got plenty wrong with it but I still got enjoyment out of this one. (Pacific Rim, The Long Kiss Goodnight)

50-59   This movie isn’t intolerable but it’s not blowing my mind either. I’m trying really hard to get some sort of enjoyment out of this. (The Hobbit, After Earth, Road to Perdition, Total Recall)

40-49   This movie is just mediocre. It’s not doing anything other than the bare minimal, so morbidly boring that sometimes I’m actually angry I watched this. (Patriot Games, The Great Gatsby)

30-39   Definitely worse than mediocre, the 30’s ironically define the 1930’s, full of depression, lack of accomplishments, poverty and just so dumb. (The Contract, Pride and Prejudice)

20-29   What did I just watch? Cliches, stupidity, nothingness, did I mention stupidity? Just…wow. (The Sum of All Fears)

0-19      Watching this movie resulted in one or more of the following: seizure, loss of brain cells, falling asleep/unconsciousness, feel you wasted your time/day, accomplished nothing for you, left the movie knowing less about it then you did going into it, constantly asking yourself why you came to see this movie, or near-death experience. In short, staring at a wall was just as entertaining as watching this movie. This movie deserved a sticker or a label that said, “WARNING: EXTREME AMOUNT OF SUCKAGE.” (Midnight Cowboy)

My score for Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story: 67.

This movie isn’t great but it’s not terrible. It’s a decent comedy that’s not a bad movie to watch if you’re looking to chill and watch a movie at the same time.

*SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU DON’T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED, STOP READING!!!

*SPOILER’S EDITION*

Vince Vaughn is not good in this movie no matter who tells you that. He’s probably less than an average joe to be honest. All of his compadres seem to care more about the gym than he does. He doesn’t seem to show a care in the world and is simply too relaxed and carefree for me to be able to relate. Luckily, Justin Long was around to save the day and take Vaughn to school on how to entertain in a boring role. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked this movie that much. Ben Stiller helped out a lot, too, but Vaughn gave a half-baked performance in this. It didn’t seem he wanted to be there and or maybe his character was supposed to be a jerk.