The Longshots

Synopsis

A former high school football star, Curtis Plummer (Ice Cube, Are We There Yet?) is unemployed and just down and out. His swagger comes back when he is forced to spend time with his niece, Jasmine  Plummer (KeKe Palmer, Akeelah and the Bee) and trains her to play quarterback for her school’s BOYS football team. She makes it on the pitiful Miden Browns team and takes them all the way to the Pop Warner Super Bowl as the first girl to ever compete. The team’s continuous wins spark the financially depressed small town of Miden to have team and town spirit. This family comedy-drama is based on the real life events of Jasmine Plummer.

Review

The Longshots is a great movie for kids. It’s inspiring and fun. Ahhh, who cares that it’s a typical sports underdog movie, and it delivers as such, doing its job. 

This cute little movie is based off of true-life events of a young female athlete, Jasmine Plummer (KeKe Palmer). She is the first female to participate in the Pop Warner football tournament. Under the guidance of her uncle Curtis (Ice Cube), a former high school football star, Jasmine leads her team, the Minden Browns to the Pop Warner Super Bowl as their unlikely quarterback. This inspires the team’s poor town of Minden, Illinois to get their hands greasy and restore some of the town’s original beauty, and it also restores Curtis’ belief in life, and himself. Sob sob. You’ve heard it before but I’m telling you this movie has comedy and drama that makes it worth the time.

The Longshots is an endearing movie. Oh…wait… I almost forgot. The director is Fred Durst. Yes! “I Did It All for the Nookie” Fred Durst –Limp Bizkit’s frontman Fred Durst. He actually did a good job considering this is his first feature length film. He was sure to have the movie set with a certain look and feel that remains throughout the film. The town is looking VERY depressed due to a high unemployment rate. So, Fred made sure to include this imagery, and his visual choices delivered this look real nice.

Let me stop for a moment, leave Hollywood, and travel to real life to discuss one aspect of the movie with you. Ladies, if you’re working hard from 9 to 5 and some man who wears the same shirt everyday, has no job, and looks like his hair hasn’t seen a pick in about 3 months, would you go on a date with him? Now be honest.  Mmm hmmm. I didn’t think so. But in this flick, this nicely polished woman, Jazmine’s teacher, Miss Macer (Jill Marie Jones, Girlfriends) has no issue at all with going out with the no job having Curtis. Well, I guess you can’t help whom you like. Plus, the brotha has dreams and he’s looking out for his niece.

Go on—take your kids to see The Longshots. The cast is good, there are a lot of funny one-liners and characters that will make you laugh. One being comedian Michael Colyar (Norbit, Barbershop). He plays a domino playing, beer-drinking loafer with his buddy who is exactly the same.

KeKe Palmer is on the right track with her career. She’s the IT young sista who I can see getting a lot more Lead Actress roles. She embraced and tackled this role the same as she did with Akeelah and the Bee. As Akeelah would spell, P-R-E-S-T-I-D-I-G-I-T-A-T-I-O-N. And now Akeelah can spell, T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N. I’m going to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play this Thursday. It’s suppossed to rain. This movie got me in the football mood.

But not the “rain on me for three hours” mood. Annnnnnnnyhoo.......

The Longshots is a family film that will nudge you to clap your hands and cheer on the underdogs. GO MIDEN BROWNS!!!!!

My Rating ~ 3 Reels

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