ScreenWize

If it was the filmmakers’ intention to make one of the worst movies of all time – and I suspect there is an element of this, given the pride behind the banality - they have all but succeeded. Leaving aside that the film is a shameless product placement vehicle with products and brands endlessly working their way into shot with all the subtlety and grace of vultures at a carcass, the humour is infantile, repetitive and predictable. We get nose picking and farts shortly after the opening credits, and by the end there’s enough body gas and bogies to fill a baseball stadium.

Which brings us to the story.

Gus (Rob Schneider) is a sporty type who, for inexplicable reasons, teams up with two of the nerdiest middle-aged nerds on the planet. They are Richie (David Spade) a video storeowner with a mediaeval haircut, and Clark (Jon Heder) an overgrown paperboy, whose nose it is that is mined for the duration of the film. For further inexplicable reasons these three form a baseball squad, and take on teams of 12 year old bullies and their bullying coaches. They have help in the form of a nerd billionaire who provides uniforms, bats and, more importantly, product placement opportunities. Richie and Clark are to baseball as toddlers to vegetables, and so it’s up to Gus to hit the homers and save the day. This he does. Over and over and over again.

The acting and direction is mostly unimaginative, and in places embarrassing. Just in case you don’t understand that the central theme is bullying, the ending provides a cloying dialogue to set the record straight. The script would have us believe that Americans communicate solely through verbal abuse, that all jocks are really gay, and that what nerds really want is tall, anorexic blondes – for they are provided to our heroes at the end. The most interesting things about the film are imagining what it says about contemporary American culture, wondering whether it’s actually a new category of narratadvertising, and trying to work out why on earth it warrants a release in Australia.

In the last line of the film, as the final credits thankfully disappear, Richie casually says “that was a waste of time wasn’t it?” Yes. Definitely.

Rating:

Filed Under: Reviews by Simon