REVIEW: The Longshots

STARRING: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 08/22/2008 DATE SCREENED: 08/18/2008 The Verdict OK - Wait for the DVD

If you had told me years ago that Limp Bizkit’s lead singer Fred Durst would make a movie starring my favorite “gansta rapper” Ice Cube, and it would be a family film about a 13 year old girl playing football, I would have thought you were crazy. But here we are in 2008, and Ice Cube has left his “gansta” persona behind, having already made a string of bad family films. His latest, The Longshots does have one thing Cube’s other family films did not have… Keke Palmer. This talented actress/singer made her big splash in Akeelah and the Bee. Playing the 13 year old girl who plays football, I had high hopes that she could elevate this film way above the low standards Ice Cube has set with films like Are We There Yet.

Set in the small town of Mindin Illinois, Longshots is based on a true story. Most of the men in town have been unemployed since the closing of a factory. Curtis (Ice Cube) is one such unemployed male, who used to be one of the middle school’s star players. He walks around in the same clothes every day, carrying a football and watching the middle school team practice in preparation for the upcoming season. His life begins to change when he is forced to watch his 13 year old niece Jasmine every day after school. Her mother has been forced to work later hours, and Curtis is the only family around to baby-sit. Jasmine’s father, Curtis’ brother, had abandoned the family 5 years ago. Jasmine is an unpopular bookworm. When she picks up a football and throws a perfect spiral to Curtis, he realizes that he may have a prodigy on his hands. Soon he is coaching her on how to be a quarterback. She is better than any of the guys on her school's team, and since it’s not technically against the rules, she becomes the team’s back-up quarterback. After a tough loss, she is promoted to the starting quarterback, where she excels and the team begins to win. Jasmine’s father even shows up in town after seeing a story about Jasmine on the news. When the head coach becomes ill, Ice Cube is hired as coach. With Jasmine at the helm, along with an assist from Curtis’ inspirational speeches, the team becomes the first Pop Warner football team to make it to the Super Bowl with a female quarterback.

The Longshots feels like it rushes to its conclusion, only pausing at all the clichéd plot points for movies in this genre. After just a few passing drills with Curtis, Jasmine is on the football team calling plays. When did she learn to run an offense, including running plays? A romance between Curtis and Jasmine's teacher is started but then abandoned. None of the other player’s characters are fleshed out. Jasmine’s mom is in and out of the movie just when her presence is absolutely necessary.

What we do get is the set-up of Jasmine and Curtis as outcasts. Jasmine and Curtis both have to win over the team with their talent and charm. Things quickly move to the “Big Game”, which does have about as much excitement as you can get from a Pop Warner game. They even throw in a moment with Jasmine and her father that will bring tears to some people’s eyes. The audience in the screening ate it all up, clapping and crying at all the right moments. KeKe Palmer is a great young actress and dose elevate this film past Cube’s other family fare, but just barely. This is nothing we haven't seen countless times before. Unless you have kids clamoring to see this movie, wait for the DVD.