Can’t dodge the mindless hilarity

You remember Dodgeball, the game in which opposing teams throw balls at each other?

Well, apparently it’s become a weekend-warrior sport, which makes it the perfect competition for a wacky parody of sports underdog movies. At least, that was the thinking of Rawson Marshall Thurber, writer-director of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”

Ben Stiller is White Goodman, the strutting owner of Globe Gym. Vince Vaughn is Peter LaFleur, the disorganized owner of Average Joe’s, a rundown gym across the street. The bank is about to foreclose on Average Joe’s, and Goodman wants to buy the property and convert it into a parking annex. Peter needs $50,000 desperately to stay afloat.

Up pops a dodgeball competition with a $50,000 grand prize. Expecting these clumsy, inept losers to win such a tournament is like expecting your kid’s T-ball team to beat the Yankees. Which means, of course, that they probably will.

The writing is amusing, occasionally silly, and with just enough raunch to remind viewers of such better films as “The Bad News Bears” and “Slapshot.” Every summer needs its share of mindless laughs. This should hold you, at least until we see Will Farrell’s “Anchorman” next month.