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THE LONGSHOTS

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Comedy
Starring: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Tasha Smith, Jill Marie Jones & Dash Mihok
Director: Fred Durst
Rating: PG
Year Made: 2008

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- NIL

 

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English
Subtitles: English/Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16x9
Sound: Dolby Digital
Running Time: 1 hr 31 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East
Official Website:
www.longshots-themovie.com

 

 

SYNOPSIS: 

A rag-tag group of misfit kids were all the tiny town of Minden had for a Pop Warner football team. That is, until Curtis Plummer (Ice Cube) came along. With a secret weapon in tow - his pigtail wearing niece Jasmine who is a natural quarterback - he will take the team from a group of clumsy goofballs to a football powerhouse. Inspired by a true story and atarring rising star Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee) as Jasmine Plummer, The Longshots is "entertaining, heartfelt and funny. One of the best movies of the year!" - MovieGuide.org

MOVIE REVIEW:

Who would have expected Fred Durst, the front man of the band Limp Bizkit, would become a feature film director, and for a film which is remote from the kind of attitude he portrays when blaring into the microphone in his alternative rock ensemble. The Longshots is yet another one of those feel good movies on American football which is inspired by true life events, and I guess this is something which will never go out of fashion, albeit even if the film just piled on cliche after cliche.

Keke Palmer is at the age where she's casted as a prodigy. From Akeelah and The Bee where she played the titular character, she turned out to be a spelling genius. For The Longshots, she follows this prodigy mold for her Jasmine character, who turns out to be a natural quarterback. Problem is of course she has to discover this talent of hers, otherwise she'll be forever stuck at being bullied and looked down upon in school by the more girly girls, just because she aspires to be a fashion model.

So in comes Uncle Curtis, played by Ice Cube, yeah THE Ice Cube who was once xXx, but now has piled on the kilos to play a down and out, one-time-promising football player before an accident took away that potential. Seeing that the genes for the sport do run in the family, he managed to coax Jasmine into the sport, and work on some basic training (cue montage sequence with great background music), before finally being accepted by the town's team given that, well, they've got nothing left to lose.

There were a couple of sub plots thrown around that didn't really quite make the cut, such as the half-baked romance between Curtis and Jasmine's teacher, nor the very hurried tussle of ownership between Curtis and Jasmine's biological father over a rising sports star who's pining for the dad who walked out of their family. What did work however is the chemistry between Ice Cube and Keke Palmer, as they make quite the excellent duo of reluctant relatives drawing each other from their social shells, and the teacher-prodigy whom each have to depend on the other for that extra boost of morale.

Being a sports film, The Longshots also boasted some tightly crafted action sequences involving American Football, and even though this is not the NFL but the Pop Warner Football Tournament, it still provided enough dramatic antics on the field that would make you eventually root for Jasmine, and the team from Minden Browns, thanks to many of the rousing scenes where the underdog phenomenon just envelopes your emotions, and that of the townsfolk into taking affirmative action in their lives. Talk about the sporting spirit being rubbed off to the everyday man in the street.

This is one film that won't go wrong as far as wholesome family entertainment is concerned, or for that lazy weekend afternoon. It's fairly standard presentation, and it works if you're not already jaded by the many similar, genre movies out there.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Fairly standard visual presentation given the rather ordinary cinematography employed, with an audio presentation that doesn't seem to milk what it's worth during the full blown football games that come with crunching tackles and scrunches.

MOVIE RATING:



DVD RATING :

Review by Stefan Shih

Posted on 28 September 2009

 
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This review is made possible with the kind support from Scorpio East

 



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