Oh, I laughed so hard I cried. There were tears streaming down the sides of my face. And just when another film like this might have fizzled out, Benchwarmers redirects its aim from the funny bone to the heart. Then I cried tears of sweetness. I can be such a big baby.

Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder is a wise choice for lead nerd. He’s rock solid funny and will no doubt bring with him a large devoted fan base. David Spade is good, and his scary haircut gets a lot of mileage. Rob Schneider plays the straight man. Jon Lovitz is an excellent cast for the billionaire father of a nerd. Reggie Jackson even makes a cameo.

It’s a baseball, apple pie encrusted revenge of the nerds. This film is 100% silly stupid. If you don’t like fart jokes, don’t go see it. But, as films in this genre go, it’s packed high with funny and warmly with heart.

I liked it all, every bit of it, save for these two exceptions: 1) A grown man sliding into home base to cremate a 12 year old – not funny. Not necessary. 2) Nerds learning to swing a bat by playing mailbox baseball. A little bit funny. Not necessary. Counter to the theme. IE Guys who think they’re tough – do that. Nerds have more respect for other people’s property (and important mail). Would have been much funnier if the nerds learned by hitting piñatas. (Lots of places to go with that). Or even the “Star Wars” method with that little ball floating around.

I’m disappointed in the film for failing in these 2 areas. But fortunately, the film succeeds on the whole. Funniest film I’ve seen in a while. (My fellow critics seem to not like this genre. You shouldn’t listen to me when I rant on horror films – because I don’t like horror films. And you probably shouldn't listen to critics who don't like this kind of humor when they review this kind of film.)

This film screened at a Krikorian Theatre.

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