You can’t really put too much faith in a movie starring Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, and Jon Lovitz, especially when Schneider basically plays the straight man and is married to Molly Sims! But somehow Benchwarmers, while not set in any reality we’ll ever know, still manages to be pretty funny! It’s silly, escapist entertainment, but it works.

Schneider, Spade and Heder are three friends, two of which are pretty much losers that never got to play sports because bullies always were beating them up and stuff. But when Schneider insists they start playing now to make up for lost time, they develop quite a following among nerdy types, including Lovitz, who’s a gazillionaire with a very cool house and car collection.

Not really any surprises here. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a Happy Madison production, including being directed by Dennis Dugan. I do love the way all the Happy Madison films tend to have a similar cast, both in smaller roles and in the bigger roles. That’s kinda cool. Jon Heder is new to a Happy Madison film, but fits in nicely. His star is definitely on the rise after his breakout hit Napoleon Dynamite, and it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s a leading man in another comedy. Rob Schneider wasn’t bad playing the straight man to Heder and Spade. I can almost seeing him in a supporting role in a drama. Maybe not a pivotal, juicy role, but a smaller role, you know.

So yeah, Benchwarmers is isn’t grand cinema. But it’s a funny way to spend an hour and a half. So check it out.