The Benchwarmers: Expect No Homeruns from New Baseball Film

I once heard someone describe an event as being "worth seeing, but not worth going to see," and that sums up Benchwarmers nicely. This most recent Happy Madison production (Adam Sandler fans will recognize this as his production company) has much in common with your typical Adam Sander film, except that it lacks the presence of Sandler himself to make the movie actually funny.

The Benchwarmers makes every attempt at being a heart-warming film about a band of ne'er-do-well friends who, after being bullied their entire lives, strike back at the bullies from their youth through the game of baseball. Their trio is soon joined by Mel (played by Jon Lovitz), the nerd-turned-billionaire out to prove a point to those who taunted him by flaunting his money and backing the Benchwarmers.

The group sets out in a single-elimination tournament against area little league teams, who are competing to win their own baseball stadium (an error in the game states that it will be a round robin tournament, but it's clearly single-elimination). As they win more games and their skills improve, they become loved and adored by children and nerds alike, and Gus, the lead character (played by Schneider) wrestles with some personal demons that bring the script what we can only assume is meant to be depth.

No one really expects comic acting to be great acting (a reason that Sandler himself has branched out into his recent dramatic roles), but truly enjoying The Benchwarmers requires that the audience suspend the realization that Rob Schneider cannot act at all, at least not beyond the realm of "making copies" and cameos. In fact, this film's lead actor is most adept at skit humor, and The Benchwarmers makes no use of this, casting Schneider instead into a role that is rarely funny and far too serious.

There's something terribly wrong when David Spade and Jon Heder are playing supporting roles to Schneider; both have established themselves already, whereas Rob Schneider's resume looks a lot like a list of SNL adaptations and guest appearances in films in which his buddies starred.

Although it lacks superb acting on behalf of its lead, the film makes up for it with some convincing child actors and beautiful support by Heder and Spade, who will manage to make you laugh and win over your emotions. Even Joey Gnoffo, playing the long-tormented Marcus, will make you laugh while you sympathize; in this regard, Benchwarmers does a great job… if only it weren't for the film's horribly unfortunate miscast of the character of Gus.

Don't expect particularly intellectual humor, as you sometimes see with Spade, or even the branch of delightfully quirky humor that we've all come to expect from Heder - The Benchwarmers relies mostly on bathroom humor. This is, however, a film about boys and the kind of things that boys do, and, moreover, the kind of men that boys grow into. A lot of the jokes in this film are of the variety that are present on playgrounds and make young girls cringe and run away, and that seems only fitting, considering the subject matter and target audience.

Despite this, the film's heartwarming message does get transmitted, and even the most prudish of viewers will find themselves laughing at least a few times. While The Benchwarmers doesn't really knock one out of the park, it definitely has several aspects of a winning play.