In the early 80's, there was a great comic strip called "Arnold." Every month or so, Arnold and his friend, Tommy, would play dodgeball in gym. I remember one strip where they decide to play in the dark. One panel is pitch black, except for the word THUNK. The next panel shows the ball embedded in Tommy's face while Arnold yells, "Eyes like a cat, Charley!" Writer/director Thurber, who helmed the hilarious "Terry Tate, Office Linebacker" Super Bowl commercials, would certainly make Arnold smile.

Stiller is White Goodman, a former obese man who has transformed himself into a physical specimen by forming his own gym, the type with heavy motivational posters on the walls. Vaughn is Peter, who owns the gym across the street. Pete has posters on the walls too, only his are more for the average person. Slogans like "No Pain, No Shame" and "Failure IS an Option" pretty much sum up his clientele. Pete learns that he is in default on his gym and must raise $50,000 to keep White from turning it into an auxiliary parking lot. With the help of his few members, the decision is to enter the national dodgeball championship, where first prize will cover the debt. With no knowledge of the game, the team obtain an old educational film, possibly the funniest one since "Johnny Dangerously." With the aid of coach Rip Torn, the team works it's way to the tournament, where they must overcome Stiller's team for the cash!

"Dodgeball" is a comedy along the lines of "The Bad News Bears" and "BASKETball," combining team work and hilarious situations that go hand in hand. Stiller is at his pompous best while Vaughn is his usual cool self. Taylor is fine as the bank officer hired to oversee Peter's gym and great cameo performances from David Hasselhoft, William Shatner, Hank Azaria and others keep the laughs coming. Another great bit is the fact the games are shown on ESPN 8, constantly referred to as "the Ocho."

A comedy that delivers consistently, on a scale of zero to for stars, I give "Dodgeball"