The Benchwarmers

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The Benchwarmers is a film about Clark (Jon Heder) and Richie (David Spade), a pair of grown nerds, and their far less nerdy and older, friend Gus (Rob Schneider), save a child from bullies while Gus was teaching the others baseball, and later defeated them in a game of baseball. The father of the child they helped, a billionaire named Mel (Jon Lovitz), returns and proposes them to play in a tournament with some of the nastier children's teams to raise awareness of bullying and its consequences, as none of them were allowed to play sports as children.

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The film provides examples of:

• As Himself - Reggie Jackson appears to help train Clark and Richie, claiming to be a childhood friend of Mel.
• Basement Dweller: Richie's brother Howie is afraid of the sun, but instead of the basement he hides in the closet and never leaves the house. Richie only manages to get Howie to come out to play baseball by telling him that there's a serial killer on the loose who only kills people named Howie in his neighborhood.
• The Atoner - Gus, once it becomes known that he bullied a child into a mental institution.
• Do-Anything Robot - Number 7.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty - Jerry is a rather cruel coach to the children on his team, so much so that they turn on him and purposefully let the other team score in the final game. And then gave him an atomic wedgie.
• Fiction 500 - Mel keeps a billion dollars in cash on his person, and funds an entire state-of-the-art baseball pitch with added playgrounds and a pool, hiring enough workers to build it in a single day.
• Heel Face Turn - Jerry's team in the final game. Gus when he was growing up.
• Insult Backfire - Jerry's "derogatory" nickname to Gus causes Gus to mock Jerry, and eventually becomes the name of the Benchwarmers' tour bus.
• Jerk Jock - Jerry Fairy, and Gus when he was a child.
• Playing Against Type - Rob Schneider finally gets a role where he can be dignified, even when NOT compared to the childish characters David Spade, Nick Swarsden and Jon Heder play.
• Shout-Out - The most obvious ones being Kit from Night Rider, a Darth Vader gatekeeper system, and various other models, including Yoda and R2-D2, all owned by Mel himself. Heck, there's a ton of Star Wars and other shout-outs in this movie.
• Uncle Pennybags - Mel.
• You Are Number Six - Number 7.