Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Peter LaFleur owns Average Joe's, a small, dilapidated gym with low membership and staffing. When he defaults on the gym's mortgage, his cocky and vindictive business rival White Goodman, who owns Globo Gym across the street, purchases it, planning to foreclose on and demolish Average Joe's to build a new auxiliary parking structure for his members unless Peter can raise $50,000 in 30 days. Goodman attempts to seduce attorney Katherine "Kate" Veatch, who is handling his account; repulsed, she cites conflict of interest (COI) to rebuff his disturbing advances.

Peter, gym employees Dwight Baumgarten and Owen Dittman, and members Steve "Pirate" Cowan, Justin Redman, and Gordon Pibb unite to raise the required money. After an impromptu car wash suggested by Owen fails, Gordon suggests entering a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas with a $50,000 grand prize. Justin obtains a 1950s-era training film featuring Irish-American dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan, which the group watches before participating in the sub-regional qualifiers the following day. Girl Scout Troop 417 easily defeats them, but one member's use of three separate types of anabolic steroids and a low-grade beaver tranquilizer results in their disqualification, effectively naming Average Joe's the winner by default.

Having spied on Average Joe's using a hidden camera in a cutout of himself, Goodman forms his own team, the Globo Gym Purple Cobras, surprising Gordon by revealing that his extremely personal friendship with the chancellor allowed him to bypass the mandatory qualification match. After watching their confrontation, Patches, now an elderly man who uses a wheelchair, approaches Peter, volunteering to coach the team. Patches' unusual training regimen involves having them dodge wrenches, oncoming cars, and his constant insults. Kate demonstrates skill at the sport but declines to join the team, citing COI. Goodman arrives at Kate's house uninvited and announces that he misled her bosses about her stealing and drinking on the job, thus getting her fired from her law firm and freeing him to date her. Enraged, but now free of COI, she rejects Goodman and joins the Average Joe's team.

Despite early setbacks, the team advances to the final round against Globo Gym. The night before the match, a falling sign in the casino kills Patches. Returning to his room, Peter encounters an uninvited Goodman, who greedily offers him $100,000 for the deed to Average Joe's, claiming that Peter will inevitably cause its closure. Demoralized, and anxious that the team will lose without Patches's motivation, Peter chastises Steve's pirate behavior upon returning to the group, causing Steve's departure. The day of the final round, Justin assists his classmate and love interest Amber in a cheerleading competition after his bully and rival Derek becomes severely injured, leaving Average Joe's short of players. Peter briefly encounters Lance Armstrong, who restores his morale, and rejoins his team, but he and Justin return too late; Average Joe's has already forfeited. After Gordon discovers that a majority of the judges can overturn the forfeiture, the tie-breaking vote from Chuck Norris reinstates the team.

After an intense game, Peter and Goodman have a sudden-death match. Inspired by Patches' spirit, Peter blindfolds himself, evades Goodman's throw and strikes him in the face, winning the championship and the prize money. Goodman nullifies the victory, revealing that Peter sold Average Joe's to him the previous night, but Peter explains he used Goodman's $100,000 to bet on Average Joe's victory; with the odds against them at 50 to 1, he collects $5 million. Since Globo Gym is a publicly traded company, Peter purchases a controlling interest in it, thus regaining Average Joe's and firing Goodman. Steve returns, now appearing more normal, but revives his pirate persona when Peter reveals their winnings as "buried treasure". Joyce, a friend of Kate's who caught an earlier flight from Guam to witness the final match, arrives and kisses her passionately, shocking Peter, but Kate then reveals her bisexuality and kisses Peter similarly. Kate becomes Peter's girlfriend, Justin and Amber get married with a baby on the way, and Owen begins dating Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivichski from the Globo Gym team. Later on, Peter opens youth dodgeball classes at a newly renovated Average Joe's, while a disgraced Goodman returns to morbid obesity, blaming Norris for his plight.

Cameo appearances

• Lance Armstrong as himself[7]
• Chuck Norris as himself, and member of the ADAA Tournament Committee[8]
• David Hasselhoff as himself, and coach of the German team[9]

When the film was screened to test audiences, the original ending had Average Joe's lose to Globo Gym in the final match. After the ending was viewed negatively by the test audiences, the sudden death match and Average Joe's winning the dodgeball tournament were added alongside White going back to obesity.[10][11]

In 2005, two New York City screenwriters, David Price and Ashoka Thomas, filed suit in federal court against Fox and Thurber, claiming copyright infringement of an unproduced screenplay they had written, Dodgeball: The Movie, by Thurber and Fox. They alleged there were a number of similarities in the plots of the two screenplays, and that Thurber may have had access to their screenplay, which was finished a month before his and submitted to an agent whose assistant he was acquainted with.[12] Lawyers for the defendants dismissed some of the allegations as coincidental. They said that both screenplays were the work of writers who used common formulaic elements. Judge Shira Scheindlin denied the defense motion for summary judgment and ordered a jury trial.[13][14] The suit was later settled out of court.[15][16]

• ESPN8 The Ocho
• List of American films of 2004

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