Writer/director Thurber came up with this film as a follow-up to his hilarious advertising campaign Terry Tate, Office Linebacker that many may have seen floating around email these last couple of years. His first foray into feature film, helped by Stiller's oversight (and obvious casting assistance), bears hilarious fruit.

The story is the simplest sports-movie plot of all - good guys need to beat bad guys to save their gym. Of course the twist here is that the sport they're playing is Dodgeball - a game that they have virtually no experience in.

It's the writing and performances that are important though. The actors all embrace their roles gleefully, with Rip Torn stealing the show as the angry former Dodgeball champion volunteering to coach the team. His foul-mouthed, politically-incorrect lines continually shock and amuse, at times making me wonder how this pulled off an M rating. Add to that some brilliantly placed cameos (one in particular which brought the house down both times I saw the film) and great support work all down the line (Jason Bateman's Dodgeball announcer is a highlight) and all the ingredients are there for a fantastic film.

It's The Mighty Ducks meets South Park, but with a lower intellectual requirement. Come for Ben Stiller, stay for the supporting cast, laugh yourself stupid, and don't leave until the very, VERY end of the credits - part of you will be glad you did (the rest may be somewhat nauseous though).