Y’know, it seems weird to speak of this movie as being an “original and best” of sorts, but the fact is, it really is, and I’m amazed by how I enjoyed this even more today than I did when I saw it on its release 5 years ago (I can’t believe it was so soon after 9/11 ‘cos I remember nearly busting a gut in the cinema watching it). Dodgeball, Anchorman, Talladega Nights ... anything with either Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, or Owen Wilson always seems to be coming from the same place as this movie, and I can’t find a thing before it that truly fits the mould despite the many, many homages and references the movie contains. Yet nothing since has come close to this. There’s the gags, of course, and I can’t think of a moment in this movie where I don’t either have a shit-eating grin on my face or laughing so loud I can’t hear the soundtrack; but this movie also does that near impossible thing of being genuinely believable and actually moving at the same time in places. It’s all to do with the characters, and all of them, from the leads to the support roles, are written to perfection. Add fantastic production design and a slew of cameos and this is absolutely one of the greatest comedies I have ever seen.

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