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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story | 2004 | PG-13 | - 5.4.5
Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn star in this comedy about a group of misfits who enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in order to save their local gym from the clutches of a corporate health fitness chain. Also with Christine Taylor, Jason Bateman and Rip Torn. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. [1:37]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - A man tries to force himself on a woman, she slaps his hand, and then slams his head into a wall (he has a bloody lip). Two women kiss passionately, and a man and a woman kiss. A man and a woman kiss, and then fall on the floor and lick each other's faces. Two women kiss a man on the cheeks. A man watches a young man in bathing trunks washing his car; the young man is bent over, the man stands behind him and caresses his own belly button while admiring him. Several women in tiny bikinis that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens and bare upper thighs, wash cars and we see them rubbing their bodies on a suds-covered car (a group of men admire them from a distance). Also, women in tiny bikinis dance seductively. A man puts a piece of pizza down his pants and appears to be gratifying himself briefly before he is interrupted. A dog nuzzles a man's crotch while he sleeps and the man reacts with pleasure, until he realizes what's going on. A group of men and a woman wear S&M costumes: one has a bit in his mouth, one has a studded codpiece, and the woman wears a leather corset (revealing cleavage and bare legs). People call a woman a lesbian in several scenes. A man accuses another man of sleeping with his employees. A young man holds a young woman over his head in a cheerleading tryout, he loses his grip, she falls on him knocking him to the ground, and lands on top of him with her crotch over his face (she is obese and we hear squishing sounds when she gets off of him). Men and women are shown in workout gear in several scenes that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens, part of bare buttocks, bare chests (on men), and one man has a codpiece that he fills with air to accentuate its size. A woman wears low-cut dresses and blouses and tight-fitting sweaters that reveal cleavage in several scenes. We see a sculpture of two nude men wrestling (one man's bare buttocks are evident). A man tells another man that he has hookers in his room and invites him to join them. A man says that he and a group of other men could sell their semen, and a loud speaker announcement talks about people needing to be inoculated for sexually transmitted and other diseases. A man makes a comment that is sexually suggestive, a man says "he doesn't have any balls" about a man on the dodgeball court, and a man says that he has seen a "grown man satisfying a camel." A man tries to seduce a woman by taking suggestive poses and making sexual remarks. A man flirts with a woman in several scenes. A man talks about having sent a strip-o-gram and that it was a male stripper who delivered it.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A lighted sign falls from the ceiling and lands on a man crushing him to death (we see his feet sticking out from under the sign). A man tries to force himself on a woman, she slaps his hand, then slams his head into a wall (he has a bloody lip). A man runs through speeding traffic trying to dodge cars, and he's hit by two cars sending him sailing over the hoods. A young man is hit in the face with a wrench, then other men are hit in the head and legs and stomach with other wrenches. A man has clamps attached to his nipples and he shocks himself when trying to take a bite out of a donut. A boy throws a ball hitting another boy in the face, breaking his glasses and knocking him to the ground. A woman throws a ball hitting a man in the head, breaking a glass with a beverage in it and another man says that he's sure that the man is dead. Men are hit repeatedly with balls during dodgeball practice and matches in many scenes. A man is hit by a cup filled with a beverage thrown from a moving car. A man hits a man in the crotch and a man shoves a boy to the floor. A man is slapped repeatedly on the stomach (we see that his stomach is red). A woman throws a ball that hits the head off of a standee. A man slaps a cup out of another man's hand and a man threatens another man on several occasions. A man slams another man against a wall and holds a dagger to his throat in a threatening manner. A group of men compete against Girl Scouts in dodgeball; the men are pummeled with balls and a girl is hit hard in the stomach with a ball. A young man holds a young woman over his head in a cheerleading tryout, he loses his grip, she falls on him knocking him to the ground, and lands on top of him with her crotch over his face (she is obese and we hear squishing sounds when she gets off of him). We see pictures of men playing dodgeball with severed heads. A young man is twisted in the cables of a weight machine and is unable to free himself. A woman gags and says "I just threw up in my mouth," and a man talks about "drinking my own urine."
LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 2 obscene hand gestures, 14 sexual references, 2 sexual gestures, 4 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 17 mild obscenities, 3 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 1 derogatory term for Germans, 2 religious profanities, 3 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. We see men smoking pipes in an opium den.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Dreams, goals, greed, competition, selling out, being a loser, camaraderie, degradation, shame, quitting, cancer, S&M, homosexuality, bisexuality, underdogs, inspiration, steroid use, obscure sports, mail-order brides.
MESSAGE - At their most basic professional sports can be pretty ridiculous endeavors.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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