Peter LaFleur is a financially struggling man who makes his money by running Average Joe's, a failing gym with only a few members. The members, Steve the Pirate, Justin, Gordan, Dwight and Owen, are heavily loyal to both the gym and its owner....
[+] Read Full Review

Peter LaFleur is a financially struggling man who makes his money by running Average Joe's, a failing gym with only a few members. The members, Steve the Pirate, Justin, Gordan, Dwight and Owen, are heavily loyal to both the gym and its owner. Peter discovers that White Goodman, owner of the glamorous Globo-Gym, has purchased Average Joe's defaulted mortgage. White Goodman makes it publicly known that he used to be obese but, miraculously, thanks to "working out", is now healthier than ever before, and, of course, completely non-obese. Peter must raise $50,000 in 30 days in order to redeem the equity of redemption on the about-to-be-foreclosed mortgage and remove the cloud on title to his gym. If he fails to do so, Goodman will successfully foreclose upon Average Joe's Gym and a parking structure will be built over the gym for Globo-Gym members. Working on this transaction is attorney Katherine, whom White attempts, and fails, to woo with charm. Back at Average Joe's, some money-making schemes are tried, including a car wash. These ultimately fail, although Gordon, after reading an advertisement in Obscure Sports Quarterly, concludes and declares that they can win the money needed to pay the redemption costs by winning a dodgeball competition in Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to the Average Joes, however, White has surreptitiously smuggled a spy camera in a cardboard cut-out of himself into Average Joe's Gym and thereby learns of their plans to enter the contest.

Peter and the other Average Joe's members initially face off against Girl Scout Troop 417 in a regional qualifying match and are quickly defeated due to their lack of experience with the game. However, before the troop can be announced as the winners, one of their players is revealed to have tested positive for steroids (and a low-grade beaver tranquilizer). Therefore, the troop is disqualified--and Average Joe's is deemed, technically, to have won the match, due to Troop 417's forfeit.

Afterward, the team goes out to celebrate but are interrupted by White and his newfound dodgeball team, who taunt the Average Joe's. Later, a dodgeball legend called Patches O' Houlihan decides to coach the team using questionable and painful methods. Katherine watches and demonstrates excellent skill at the game, triggering the team to try and convince her to join. She declines, since she works for White and it would be a "conflict of interests". However, White visits her at her house and reveals that he got her fired so she would date him. She rejects his advances just as Peter arrives. A minor confrontation ensues and Katherine ends up hitting White. He leaves quickly, leaving Peter to try and convince Katherine to join their team again. This time she gladly accepts.

In Las Vegas the team are supposed to get new uniforms, but the orders get mixed up and they have to wear dominatrix clothing for their first match, since they have to wear matching uniforms according to dodgeball rules. They win largely due to Katherine and go onto the next round. The Purple Cobras (White's team) also win their matches with relative ease. At the semi-finals, Average Joe's is whittled down to Gordan, who isn't very good at dodgeball at all. However, he gets angry after seeing his wife flirting with a man in the crowd and manages to defeat the other team single-handedly using the anger inside him, passing Average Joe's into the finals against the Purple Cobras.

The night beforehand, the team's confidence takes a severe hit when Patches is inadvertently killed in a freak accident when a "Luck Of The Irish" slot machine sign crushes him. Without their coach, the team starts to fall apart. White meets with Peter and offers him one hundred thousand dollars to hand over the Average Joe's deed and forfeit the upcoming finals match. Peter leaves the hotel and runs into Steve the Pirate. Frustrated at White's actions, he grabs Steve by the collar and says, "you are not a pirate," thus depressing him and making him question who he is. Elsewhere, Owen sleeps with Fran, a member of the Purple Cobras whom he had been attracted to throughout the movie.

The day of the match, Justin is pulled away by a girl from his school (whom he has a crush on) to compete in a cheerleading competition because one of their members fell from the indoor rollercoaster ride and broke every bone in his body. Steve is nowhere to be seen and Peter also fails to show up, having checked out of his room before the others could find him. The team is worried they might have to forfeit due to lack of players. Justin returns after the cheerleading competition but Average Joe's still does not have enough players to play. We then see Peter drinking at a bar, miserable as can be. Suddenly, Lance Armstrong takes a seat next to him and inadvertently motivates him to return to the game and play. Peter returns to the match.

Just as the Average Joe's are about to forfeit, Peter arrives and it comes down to a vote to see if the Average Joe's are still eligible to play. A three person vote is then carried out and it comes down to a 1-1 vote. The camera pans over to the 3rd judge, Chuck Norris, who votes yes and allows the finals to begin. At one point, Justin is the last player to remain, although he recovers and manages to summon Peter and Katherine back into the game before being eliminated. Peter falls over and becomes a prime target, but Katherine takes the shot for him. As she is leaving the court, White purposefully throws another ball at her, resulting in a warning against him and, in a deleted scene, 10 seconds in the Shame Triangle. At the start-off, Peter manages to hit one of the two remaining Globo-Gym team members, but is hit by White. Luckily, White commits a double fault by stepping over the line on the throw, leading to a Sudden Death match between Peter and White. Peter blindfolds himself with a bandana that Patches had given him. He feels Patches' presence and manages to hit White sqaure in the face, scoring a victory for Average Joe's.

After initial celebration, it turns out that Peter did sell Average Joe's the night before, meaning that they would lose the gym anyway. Peter replies by revealing that he had bet on Average Joes to win (at 50-to-1 odds), meaning that he now had five million dollars to buy back his gym and buy out Globo-Gym. White protests angrily that he would never sell Globo-Gym, although Peter states that he will simply invest the money in a controlling stake of Globo-Gym, buying him out. And since Globo-Gym is a publicly traded company, White can't do anything to stop the sale. Steve returns, having cut his hair and changed his clothes. Peter convinces him that he is a pirate by showing him his "buried treasure", which overjoys Steve. Finally, Average Joe's goes on to become a success, while White returns to being obese and scoffs at the TV ad for Average Joe's stating "I should've won that **** Chuck Norris".