What happens when you put Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Jon Heder in a movie produced by Adam Sandler? Moviegoers line up for 90 minutes of the kind of humor they enjoyed in the high school locker room. Call it The Bad News Bears meets Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.
David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says, "Even if you were picked last in gym class, you'll find little amusement in Benchwarmers … a lame comedy about inclusion, sportsmanship and embracing your inner nerd. … Despite a commendable underdog message and some occasional funny moments, director Dennis Dugan's film strikes out, its Bad News Bears script straining under forced laughs and sophomoric slapstick."
Bob Smithouser (Plugged In) says, "Much like a Farrelly brothers comedy, The Benchwarmers has a blast at the expense of brainy misfits, tearing them down on its way to a finale that wraps an arm around them as if to say, 'We kid because we love!' And somewhere amid all of that juvenile cruelty and offensive humor is a sports movie so ludicrous that The Benchwarmers might just replace steroids as baseball's greatest embarrassment of 2006."
You'll find far more entertainment in the various ways that mainstream critics describe the film's failures.