MOVIE REVIEW
The Longshots (2008)
Tony Rivetti Jr./Dimension Films
Unless something special happens, most sports movies adhere
to a depressingly standardized template. You know the drill: Against all odds, underdog character/squad achieves
success in whatever chosen competition, with an inspirational coach and a
soundtrack full of reliable pop tunes to boot. Successful entries in the genre transcend the format by finding some
sort of different, interesting angle with which to approach it, or by presenting
characters so well rounded and likable that it’s hard to root against them.
“The Longshots,” directed by Fred Durst (yes, the former Limp Bizkit frontman), has
been made with such careful attention to the genuinely inspirational elements
of its story and the small town values at its core that it almost becomes a
challenge to hate it – almost,
because I still found plenty of room in my heart to loathe the movie’s rigid
adherence to every last clichéd detail of the tried-and-true formula. Mr. Durst and screenwriter Nick Santora treat
those details so seriously it’s as if it never occurred to them that we’ve seen
them all before.
Competently directed but over dramatized, improbable and
never especially involving, the story of the first female quarterback (Keke
Palmer) in the history of Pop Warner football never taps into the historical
significance of her achievement. It’s
too busy being firmly trapped in bland feel-good movie land. Nothing about the picture rings true: not
the trite downtrodden Midwestern milieu, the one-note characters or the
football action. The music swells
constantly, characters look upon one another with great feeling, and much of the
production has been submerged in a schmaltzy haze. The filmmakers mean well, but we all know the road to hell is paved
with good intentions.
THE LONGSHOTS
Opened on Aug. 22 in the United States.
Directed by Fred Durst; written by Nick Santora; director of photography, Conrad W. Hall;
edited by Jeffrey Wolf; production design by Charles Breen; produced by Matt Alvarez, Ice Cube and Mr. Santora; released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Running time: 1 hour 34
minutes. This film is rated PG.
WITH: Ice Cube (Curtis Plummer) and Keke Palmer (Jasmine).
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