This spring’s requisite baseball flick Benchwarmers is typical Saturday Night Live fare, brought to the screen by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions.
The ensemble comedy features SNL alums Rob Schneider, David Spade and Jon Lovitz with it-geek boy of the moment, Jon Heder (a.k.a. Napoleon Dynamite).
Farts and boogers are flying in the first ten minutes of this juvenile flick aimed at young boys.
Gus (Schneider) is the group’s unofficial leader, the only one not borderline mentally handicapped, with a hottie wife (former model Molly Sims) and a respectable lawn care business of his own. Clark (Heder) isn’t too far removed from his notorious role as Idaho’s favorite dork, but he trades in his frizzy curls for a flip and a helmet. Spade plays Richie a video store clerk with an awkward agoraphobic brother.
The trio is first lured to the baseball field when they hear a group of boys harassing a chubby kid and rush to save his dignity. Being on the field sparks childhood memories for Gus and he urges the guys to return for a practice session later that day.
The gang eventually finds themselves in a full-scale tournament sponsored by the chubby kid’s dad, Lovitz, who is every geek’s dream come true. Not only a billionaire with an amazing crib, he’s also proud owner of R2-D2, a vintage Batmobile, and KITT from 80s fave “Knight Rider.” He offers up a brand new stadium for the winner of the one-game elimination tourney.
The gross-out comedy does have its laughs, however shameful. They’re in there, only tucked between so much product placement they can be difficult to ascertain.
First it is Pepsi, then Pizza Hut (part of the same umbrella corporation), then the guys are drinking Pepsi at the Pizza Hut. There’s Sony Pictures superhero Spider-Man as well as its PlayStation 2 and Vaio laptop. Toss in Toyota and several other labels and it proves to be quite distracting.
Not that it’s a bad movie, it just is what it is. In an era following clever comedies like Wedding Crashers and 40-Year-Old Virgin, must we resort back to fart jokes and ball-socking? The film teeters a fine line between its PG-13 rating and the R it could have received, only a matter of a few words would change it. But Benchwarmers is for the kiddies wanting to spend money on something on Friday nights, but luckily for the grown-ups, it manages to stay quick and painless.
