By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 43 seconds ago

These days, most comedies fall flat because they play it safe in direct-to-streaming films that pull punches with their punchlines and star some of the unfunniest people on the planet. Over two decades ago, though, we got a solidly-budgeted, raunchy comedy starring some of the funniest actors in Hollywood. If you’d like to bust a gut laughing at the kind of vulgar comedy that could never be made today, you can now stream Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story for free on Tubi.

The premise of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is that the owner of a crappy local gym must raise $50,000 in the next month or lose his gym or get bought out by the snotty owner of the mega-gym across the street. Our schlubby hero assembles a motley crew of his employees and gym members to compete in a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament, which (conveniently enough) has a $50,000 prize. But after the rival gym owner assembles his own team of elite athletes, everything comes down to a dodgeball showdown between a group of well-funded jerks and an ersatz team of average Joes.

Big Names And Bigger Personalities

The cast of Dodgeball includes some fun surprises, including Ben Stiller (best known for Tropic Thunder) as the cartoonishly evil owner of the rival gym across the street. Justin Long (best known for Jeepers Creepers) plays a nebbish high schooler who’s hoping to make the grade and save his favorite gym, while Alan Tudyk (best known for the Firefly TV show) plays a gymgoer who just happens to dress and act like a pirate. Meanwhile, the movie is filled with big names in small roles, including Jason Bateman, William Shatner, and even Chuck Norris.

The real star of this particular show, though, is Vince Vaughn: he makes his protagonist surprisingly affable and relatable, imbuing the character with the same smirking charm that the actor exhibited in Wedding Crashers. He is basically the straight man to the wackier performances all around him, but he still manages to get his own hilarious zingers in. Vauhgn is truly inspired casting, and his experience always playing Hollywood’s archetypal everyman helps him bring the owner of Average Joe’s gym to life in a surprisingly vivid way.

The Last Movie Audiences Wanted To Dodge

It may have seemed like a silly sports throwback at the time, but Dodgeball proved to be wildly popular: against a budget of $20 million, the film earned a cool $168.4 million. Surprisingly, there was never a follow-up film, though there have been reports about a possible sequel since 2013. As recently as 2023, 20th Century Studios was reportedly working on a sequel that brought Vince Vaughn back, but there have been no updates on that film in the last few years.

When Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story came out, it proved one thing among professional critics: if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a bad review! It has a 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the film for its hilariously vulgar writing and winking, over-the-top performances. They also commended this movie for serving as a spiritual sequel to the kinds of snobs vs. slobs films that were so wildly popular back in the 1980s.

Plundering Nostalgia In A Big Way

The critics are quite correct that Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is an ‘80s throwback in the best possible ways, including the simplicity of the plot. It’s a slobs vs. snobs underdog story that culminates in a crazy competition between the groups, which is a plot evocative of classic films such as Caddyshack and Revenge of the Nerds. Dodgeball manages to update this tried-and-true movie formula while adding a few new twists, resulting in a film that works as an homage to yesteryear while still managing to stand on its own.

A big part of the movie’s enduring appeal is its eminently-quotable dialogue: speaking for myself, Rip Torn’s gruff delivery of “if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!” lives in my head rent-free. Meanwhile, Ben Stiller’s line delivery of “no one makes me bleed my own blood” is the perfect combo of campy and threatening. Additionally, the gag about “ESPN 8: The Ocho” was so funny that the popular sports channel has frequently held marathons of the same name that feature dodgeball and other lesser-known sports. 

A Comedy That Could Never Be Made Today

In returning to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this is the kind of film that we just don’t get anymore. The mid-budget film has quietly died, which is why your local movie theaters are filled with nothing but big-budget superhero slop and low-budget indies and horror films. Watching Dodgeball feels like a return to a glorious era when such raunchy, mid-budget comedies were the norm, which is great for anyone tired of the direct-to-streaming garbage that Netflix and other streamers can’t stop churning out.

Will you agree that Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is the kind of over-the-top comedy that could never be made today, or would you rather get hit in the face by a dodgeball than watch all the way through? You won’t know until you stream this campy classic for free on Tubi. Fair warning, though: once the credits roll, you may be overtaken by a powerful urge to call up your friends and play a few rounds of dodgeball!.