The Benchwarmers
Yet another comedy you really can’t say doesn’t warn you in advance. Rob Schneider in the lead, Adam Sandler’s production company Happy Madison at the beginning of the credits. Basically it’s a Sandler movie with Schneider in his place, and as stupid, pointless and ridiculous as that implies. But, I have to say, I found it surprisingly inoffensive, and in fact more fun to watch than the other kids baseball movie of the past few years, Bad News Bears, which I watched only last week.
The kids are very much Sandler movie kids (think Big Daddy or Billy Madison) and as such, just so much cuter than the Bad News Bears kids – the acting is barely at the school play level, but somehow director Dennis Dugan (who’s directed two Sandler features in addition to the original Problem Child) is able to make this not only forgivable but also a little endearing. But it’s Schneider, Heder, Spade and co. who really deliver the immaturity in this movie. Heder basically delivers another variation on his name-maker Napoleon Dynamite, Spade is no more than a haircut, and Schneider is Schneider. What can I say? I laughed a lot.