The Benchwarmers

The Benchwarmers
The Benchwarmers film poster
Directed by	Dennis Dugan
Written by	Allen Covert Nick Swardson
Produced by	Adam Sandler Jack Giarraputo
Starring	David Spade Rob Schneider Jon Heder Jon Lovitz
Cinematography	Thomas Ackerman
Edited by	Peck Prior Sandy Solowitz
Music by	Waddy Wachtel
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release dates	April 7, 2006 (USA)
Running time	85 minutes
Language	English

The Benchwarmers is a 2006 comedy film that was released on April 7, 2006. It stars David Spade, Rob Schneider, and Jon Heder and is directed by Dennis Dugan. It is produced by Happy Madison Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures.

Plot

Richie Goodman (David Spade), Gus Matthews (Rob Schneider), and Clark Reedy (Jon Heder) are three grown men and neighborhood friends. Clark and Richie were also 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 and Clark's mental problems. (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 father Mel (Jon Lovitz) - a billionaire nerd sympathizer 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 county, plus their team. The winners will be given access to a new multi-million dollar baseball park that he's built. 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.

Near the end of the story, Gus, the star of his team, an excellent pitcher and a huge home run hitter, is exposed for being a brutal bully as a child, not a victim of bullies. He had bullied one child so intensely that the kid, a midget named Marcus, had to be sent to an institution. At his wife's suggestion, Gus apologizes to Marcus who becomes the Benchwarmers' third-base coach. At the end of the story, Gus, Clark, and Richie do not play; rather, they let a team of Nelson and other nerdy kids play in the final game, to give them a chance to compete. The final game is played against a team with a heartless jock coach, Jerry (Craig Kilborn), who practically torments his players. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Benchwarmers are losing, 42-0, when Jerry's team throws Nelson of the Benchwarmers a "fat" pitch down the middle. When Nelson hits the ball, Jerry's team lets him score a run while Jerry goes crazy. In the end, all of the kids, as well as Gus, Richie, Clark, Marcus, and every other adult appearing in the movie (except Jerry) have a party when they learn Gus is going to be a father.

Also appearing in the movie for a few scenes is former New York Yankees superstar Reggie Jackson who plays himself as Mel's childhood friend, and helps the Benchwarmers train.

Cast

• Rob Schneider as Gus Matthews
• David Spade as Richie Goodman
• Jon Heder as Clark Reedy
• Jon Lovitz as Mel Carmichael
• Craig Kilborn as Jerry McDowell
• Molly Sims as Liz Matthews
• Tim Meadows as Wayne
• Nick Swardson as Howie Goodman
• Erinn Bartlett as Sarah the Salad Girl
• Amaury Nolasco as Carlos
• Bill Romanowski as Karl
• Sean Salisbury as Brad
• Matt Weinberg as Kyle
• John Farley as Swimmer Boy
• Reggie Jackson as Himself
• Tony Falcone as Himself
• Max Prado as Nelson Carmichael
• Joe Gnoffo as Marcus Elwood
• Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Elwood
• James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader
• Lochlyn Munro (cameo) as Construction Worker
• Rachel Hunter (cameo) as Clark's first kiss
• Terry Crews (cameo) as Daddy Warbucks
• Dan Patrick (cameo) as Poker Player
• Patrick Schwarzenegger as Jock Kid in Game #3 who gets spit on (Arnold Schwarzenegger's son)

Music

1. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
2. Hey Boy - Teddybears STHLM
3. Jerk It Out - Caesars
4. Never Known - O'Doyle Rules
5. Theme from Knight Rider
6. Cobrastyle - Teddybears STHLM
7. Walk of Life - Dire Straits
8. Hit or Miss - New Found Glory
9. Alright - Supergrass
10. Life is Good - Junk
11. That's Good - Devo
12. Stand Up and Win - Spymob
13. Gasolina - Daddy Yankee
14. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
15. I Got You - The Waking Hours
16. Good - Black Lab
17. Times Like These - Foo Fighters (Song used in the trailer)

Trivia

• This was Adam Sandler's twelfth film as a producer, with friend and frequent co-star Rob Schneider, following The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Little Nicky, The Animal, Mr. Deeds, Eight Crazy Nights, The Hot Chick, The Longest Yard, 50 First Dates, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and 2006's Grandma's Boy. This is also Sandler's sixth production with other friend David Spade, following Joe Dirt, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Grandma's Boy and an Untitled David Spade Christmas Comedy. All three were members of the Saturday Night Live cast at the same time.
• The film was heavily promoted by MLB.com.
• The Benchwarmers also contains numerous references to Sony—whose Columbia Pictures division released the film—through frequent placement of Sony products (i.e. Sony VAIO laptops and computers, Sony Cybershot camcorders, Sony Playstation 2, etc.).
• Adam Sandler's wife Jackie and his nephew Jared are in the movie. Jackie plays the female customer in the beginning of the movie.
• ESPN Sportscaster Dan Patrick makes a cameo appearance in the movie; he's seen playing poker.
• Mel has the KITT car from Knight Rider and the original Batmobile. He also has a Toyota Tundra NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Racing Truck. In the scene where he is driving the Toyota, Mel yells "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let's Go Racing!" which is a reference to former NASCAR Driver and current FOX Sports Commentator Darrell Waltrip's catch phrase at the start of each race. Waltrip is also affiliated with Toyota, helping them with their NASCAR Truck Racing Program and doing television commercials for Toyota.
• The line, "If you build it, nerds will come," is a reference to the baseball-themed movie Field of Dreams.
• During one of the games, we see five men with their shirts off and their chests painted to spell "NERDS." The "N" of the group is musician Jack Anthony.
• The construction workers running into the clearing to build the ballpark is a reference to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
• The mock Philip Glass music and time-lapse filming during the actual construction of the ballpark is a strangely out-of-place reference to Koyaanisqatsi.
• In the outtakes shown during the credits, Jon Lovitz's line "...And I'm reaping all the benefits" is a reference to Lovitz's character in The Wedding Singer.
• The Dominican baseball player, who lies about his age so he can play with the little kids against the Benchwarmers, is a reference to Danny Almonte in the Little League World Series saying he was 12 when he was actually 14.
• The Swimmer Boy is played by John Farley, Chris Farley's brother.
• Marcus, the boy that Gus teases, is wearing a Fonzie shirt.
• The Jock Kid in Game #3, who gets hit by an egg when Schneider pitches, is Arnold Schwarzenegger's son, Patrick Schwarzenegger.
• Lochlyn Munro makes a cameo appearance, conversing with Mel at the construction site.
• The game played by David Spade in the scene where the team is on the team bus is the Playstation 2 game Jet Li: Rise to Honor.
• Rachel Hunter makes a cameo as Clark's first kiss.
• The house owned by Mel is also used in Fun with Dick and Jane
• Marcus Elwood's character was aesthetically designed to parody Anthony Martinez.

Allusions

• A stadium in the film is said to have elements of all the greatest ballparks in America. As depicted in the movie, it has the legendary facade from Yankee Stadium, the Ivy and Brick wall from Wrigley Field, and a swimming pool, which may be based on Chase Field. It also features a Green Monster to replicate the one at Boston's Fenway Park.

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $20.5 million, ranking a strong second in the United States box office.

As of June 7, 2006, the film has grossed over $57 million in the United States box office.

Reception

The Benchwarmers was universally panned by critics, earning a "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes of 11%. Voters at the Internet Movie Database gave the film somewhat better ratings of a 5.3 out of 10.

External links

• Official website
• The Benchwarmers at IMDb
• The Benchwarmers at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Benchwarmers at Box Office Mojo
• The Benchwarmers at Yahoo Movies
• The Benchwarmers at AOL movies
• David Spade interview for Benchwarmers