The Benchwarmers
Sony Pictures Releasing | Release Date: April 7, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
25
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
5
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This morphing of "The Bad News Bears" and a "Three Stooges" episode parades its dumbness with such zip that it almost passes for clever. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJames Parker
Not terrible, not terrible at all. Yes, the plot is terrible, some of the jokes are terrible, and Rob Schneider's bizarre from-the-neck-up oxblood tan is terrible, but the movie as a whole is a more-than-acceptable addition to the genre of shameless and hastily made American comedy. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
For the first two acts, veteran lowbrow director Dennis Dugan at least keeps The Benchwarmers' pace brisk and the wall-to-wall soundtrack upbeat and infectious. Then the big third-act twist arrives and the film drags to a finish, leaving a slug-like trail of squishy sentimentality. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe Leydon
Under Dennis Dugan's rote direction, Schneider winds up playing straight man to Spade, who once again relies on his snarky coward shtick, and Heder, who comes across like someone doing a bad imitation of ... well, Heder himself in "Napoleon Dynamite." Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesGene Seymour
From the beginning to its very end, The Benchwarmers seems to be struggling to justify its own existence. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyBen Kenigsberg
It's hard to buy the movie as an underdog success story, since even the actors barely seem to exert themselves. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This formulaic mess of sports-movie cliches and self-esteem claptrap contains a couple of funny bits, but you have to slog through a lot of done-to-death bodily function jokes to get to them. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
An underdog's breakfast of a movie, with some quite funny characters and set pieces mixed with some excruciating "moral lessons," but at least it moves along at a brisk pace. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
You have to credit the filmmakers for at least acknowledging their level of dreck during the final credits, when Lovitz rhetorically asks, "This was a complete waste of time, wasn't it?" Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The Benchwarmers is the sort of trash that Hollywood does really well. It is also, to quote Mr. Schneider, "a master's thesis on the form of a quintessential Adam Sandler comedy." Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
It's a movie packed with so many idiot characters that Rob Schneider is cast as the cool guy -- and sort of pulls it off. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
No laughs here, just the dull ache of seeing Heder slotted into a standard piece of Hollywood twaddle. Read full review
20
EmpireDamon Wise
An unfunny, unfocused sub-SNL baseball comedy that makes the likes of Joe Dirt and Deuce Bigalow seem vintage. Read full review
12
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The humor is infantile at best (projectile vomiting and bathroom jokes) and meanspirited at worst (midgets and gays, look out). Read full review
12
New York PostLou Lumenick
Sandler's latest ode to projectile vomiting, passing gas, gay jokes and physical insults to the groin is basically a feeble cross between "The Revenge of the Nerds" and "The Bad News Bears." Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleToddy Burton
Though not entirely incapable of provoking a smile (or two), The Benchwarmers strikes out. Again and again and again. Read full review
10
Film ThreatMichael Ferraro
Another disastrous comedy aimed at second-graders and anyone else who thinks farts are still funny. Read full review
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