The Benchwarmers (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Dir. Dennis Dugan & David Spade & John Hedder Featurette-Play All, Nerds Vs Bullies, Mr. October, Play Bal Featurette-Whose On Deck Deleted Scenes Trailer-Open Season. RV, Your Mine & Ours, Zoom
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	80
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Dennis Dugan
Studio Distributor	SONY Pictures Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Rob Schneider David Spade Jon Heder Jon Lovitz Craig Kilborn Molly Sims Tim Meadows Nick Swardson Erinn Bartlett Amaury Nolasco Bill Romanowski Sean Salisbury Matt Weinberg
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Waddy Wachtel

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Greek Hindi English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Jon Heder all star in The Benchwarmers, the latest low-brow comedy from Adam Sandler's 'Happy Madison Productions'. The story concerns three guys (Schneider, Spade, Heder) who have spent their existence being picked on, ridiculed and living in the shadow of bullies. After witnessing a nasty playground incident, the three leads are determined not to take it anymore. Now they must tackle on the most offensive and meanest Little League teams in the state.

    Rob Schneider comedies are definitely an aquired taste. There's no subtlety whatsoever, they're crass and revel in gross-out humour, and frequently they're not particularly funny. The Benchwarmers is no exception. Aimed squarely at the 12 to 14 year old market, I'm hard pressed to see anyone finding this sports comedy remotely amusing. However, what do I know? The film grossed almost $60 million in the US alone, so there is clearly a market for such fare.

    Like most comedies rolling off the assembly line at the Happy Madison factory, The Benchwarmers features a stunningly shallow plot and a juvenile sense of humor. Running a tight 80 minutes, the film is full of stupid, groan-inducing gags which are thrown at the screen in dizzying succession. Unfortunately, as bad as all this sounds, I've seen similar comedies that pulled up far worse than this. Simply put, those who know what they are getting into and adore all things born of Adam Sandler's production company will more than likely walk away from this viewing experience pleased.

Video

    The Benchwarmers is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    I get tired of praising the transfers from Columbia Tristar, and this film is no exception. The picture image is sharp without any aliasing or edge enhancement issues. Black levels are strong with excellent Shadow Detail and minimal grain. There were no Low Level Noise problems found on the transfer.

    Colours are natural and vibrant without any signs of image bleeding or oversaturation.

    The film is pretty well devoid of any Film or Video Artefacts as you would expect from this particular distributor.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The Benchwarmers has been given an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track as well as a 2.0 surround director's commentary track.

    Dialogue is clear, with no discernable audio sync errors.

    The film's score is fairly 'by the numbers', and typical of second-rate sports comedies. However, it does propel the narrative forward and is never intrusive.

    The 5.1 channel usage is fairly aggressive, with plenty of surround sound activity. The rear speakers are in frequent use, with the score, directional effects, and ambient noise present throughout.

    The subwoofer provides strong bass with plenty of reverberation.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Two Audio Commentaries - (1) Director Dennis Dugan & (2) David Spade and Jon Heder.

    Dennis Dugan comes across as not particularly enthusiastic, in fact bored is more appropriate. His delivery is very laid back, and left way too much dead air for the majority of the films running time. Honestly, what's the point in going to all the trouble of a commentary track if you would rather be elsewhere. Mind you does anyone care what enlightenment the director of The Benchwarmers can share with us about his film making experience?

    David Spade & Jon Heder - Spade and Heder obviously had a good time making this film. Their banter is consistently amusing, especially when making fun of Rob Schneider. Spade is definitely the highlight found here, his quick wit and sarcasm proves contageous. In fact I found the track more amusing than the film itself. fans of the film will get a kick out of this better than average commentary.

Featurette - Nerd vs. Bullies (5 mins)

    This short featurette asks the actors whether they were a bully or nerd while growing up. A useless fluff piece that goes nowhere fast.

Featurette - Mr. October (8 mins)

    The cast and production team heap praise on Reggie Jackson for his brief role in the movie.

Featurette - Play Ball America (6 mins)

    Concentrates on America's love of it's national pastime – baseball.

Featurette - Who's on Deck? (2mins)

    A montage of Howie's (Spade's freakish sibling) scenes from the film. A questionable time filler if ever there was one.

Deleted Scenes

    Four short deleted scenes that were rightfully removed from the film.

Trailers

    Open Season, RV, Your Mine & Ours, Zoom.

    All versions of this film currently available appear to be the same.

    The Benchwarmers is a fairly humourless comedy that will have a limited appeal to anyone over the age of 15. The disc looks and sounds great, and for those interested in the material, there is a wealth of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall