The Benchwarmers is a 2006 comedy film that was released on April 7, 2006. It stars Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Heder and is directed by Dennis Dugan. It is produced by Happy Madison Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios.
Plot
Gus, Clark, and Richie are three grown men and neighborhood friends. Clark and Richie were the unpopular kids who were constantly bullied by jocks and always benched at the little league baseball games, because of their less-than-stellar athletic abilities. When a nerdy boy named Nelson (Max Prado) and his friends are kicked off a nearby baseball diamond by a team of bullies, Gus and Clark chase the bullies away. When Gus and Clark return with Richie to play again and get back their feel for the game, the bullies return and demand that they leave. Gus challenges the bullies to play them for the field, and the three friends win. Later, Nelson's billionaire father Mel (Jon Lovitz) tells the trio that he's impressed with their win, and explains his plan to hold a round-robin with all the little league teams in the state, plus their team. The winners will be given access to a new multi-million dollar baseball park that he's building. Wanting to capture the spirit and fun they never had when they were kids, the three decide to form the Benchwarmers and join the tournament. They prepare to compete with all the other teams, despite the fact that they're three adults squaring off against nine kids per team.
Just when it's looking like the stadium is all theirs, Gus, the star of his team, is kicked off of the team for being a brutal bully as a child, not a victim of bullies. He had bullied one child so intensely that the kid, a boy named Marcus Elwood, had to be sent to an institution. Even though his playing on the Benchwarmers gave a lot of the nerdy kids in town hope, he still feels intensely guilty for his role in Marcus' torment. At his wife's suggestion, Gus apologizes to Marcus, who becomes the Benchwarmers' third-base coach. In the final game, Gus, Clark, and Richie do not play; rather, they let a team of Nelson and other kids play in the final game, to give them a chance to compete. The final game is played against a team with a heartless coach, Jerry (dubbed by Gus as "Fairy Jerry") (Craig Kilborn), who practically torments his players - and was Richie and Clark's main bully when they were kids. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Benchwarmers are losing, 42-0, when Jerry's team throws Nelson of the Benchwarmers a "meatball" pitch down the middle. When Nelson hits the ball, Jerry's team lets him score a run while Jerry goes crazy. The Benchwarmers storm the field, celebrating the fact that they were not shut out -- and the guys give Jerry a taste of his own medicine, hanging him from the dugout fence by his underwear.
Also appearing in the movie for a few scenes is former New York Yankees superstar Reggie Jackson, who plays himself as Mel's nerdy childhood friend, and helps the Benchwarmers train using unorthodox methods (childhood pranks and games such as ding-dong ditch, hot potato, and mailbox smashing).
Cast
Music
- Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
- Hey Boy - Teddybears STHLM
- Jerk It Out - Caesars
- Never Known - O'Doyle Rules
- Theme from Knight Rider
- Cobrastyle - Teddybears STHLM
- Walk of Life - Dire Straits
- Hit or Miss - New Found Glory
- Alright - Supergrass
- Life is Good - Junk
- That's Good - Devo
- Stand Up and Win - Spymob
- Gasolina - Daddy Yankee
- Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
- I Got You - The Waking Hours
- Good - Black Lab
- Times Like These - Foo Fighters (Song used in the trailer)
Allusions
Box Office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $19.6 million, ranking second at the North American box office.
As of June 7, 2006, the film had grossed over $58 million in the United States.
Reception
The film has received negative reviews from critics with a 12 percent, "Rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 65 reviews and a 25 on Metacritic indicating "generally negative reviews". The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes was "a gross-out comedy that is more sophomoric than funny. The Benchwarmers goes down swinging."
External links
