Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) owns Average Joe's Gym, a scruffy establishment with a loyal clientele, while across the street Globo Gym, owned by White Goodman (Ben Stiller), is all glass and chrome and full of toned muscle. When Peter learns he owes the bank $50,000 in 30 days, White is overjoyed: now he can have the parking lot his gym's always needed. But Peter decides to take part in a money-earning dodgeball tournament (a sport that consists of not being hit by the opposing team's balls) to earn the dough and it is, of course, his team of misfits against White's tough pros in the final.

Rawson Marshall Thurber's debut feature is a mix of verbal and physical humour and if the outcome is never in doubt the film moves along with enjoyable gusto. Vaughn plays it relatively straight, leaving Stiller to make the most of the gags, including his lack of stature and - ahem - endowment. Christine Taylor plays the bank employee who defects to Peter's side (and, as the real-life Mrs Stiller, gets to pepper her husband with balls) while Rip Torn plays Patches O'Houlihan, the legendary inventor of the sport.