The Longshots (2008)

A very good movie, Long shots is based on a true story of a run down town and a young lady that achieves confidence on the football field. Against all odds, the town as well as the girl learn to achieve simply by watching the girl overcome obstacles on the football field. This movie is good for all ages to see due to it is positive and it shows that anything can be done if you put the proper effort into it. The movie displays decent acting, humor and drama. Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Tasha Smith, Jill Marie Jones, Dash Mihok did good work. The acting is very nice, Ice Cube, yes, (I've enjoyed his acting since the Boyz N the Hood days), Keke Palmer very believable as a tall misfit Jasmine Plummer, and the supporting cast. There's even a cool cameo by Garrett Morris (Saturday Night Live fame of the Chevy Chase / Steve Martin era). You won't be disappointed with watching this film.

My entire family enjoyed The Longshots, based on the true story of an eleven year old girl who played quarterback on a Pop Warner football team. The movie makes no pretense of being the world's greatest sport movie. It is however an inspiring, wholesome story. Both Ice Cube and Kiki Palmer are excellent in this movie.As the parent of two children of color, I appreciated the fact that even though the lead characters are African American and many of the other characters are White, race was not an issue in this story. Both my 11 year old daughter and 13 year old son (who is a quarterback) enjoyed the movie without feeling preached to. The Longshots is especially appropriate for that age range.The Longshots might have a fairly narrow audience. It is not for young children, and is probably not exciting enough for older teenagers and many adults. The situations are not over dramatized to increase the tension in the story. The Longshots is an inspiring film that especially should be seen by pre-teen girls and their families.

In brief Longshots is the classic underdog story but with a few twists. Not only do we have a young,struggling,American rugby team we also have the struggle of a young girl trying to earn respect and gain a place in this young,struggling,American rugby team.People may think they have seen hundreds of these types of films before, Mighty Duck's (the ice hockey one with Billy the Kid as the head coach) and Little Giant's (the American rugby one with Louis Tully as the head coach) to name two off the top of my head. Longshots however is a different breed of animal.The powerhouse performance of Ice Cube accompanied with the fantastic direction of Fred Durst makes this film a must see.Ice Cube plays Curtis Plummer, a down and out with little in his life except American football and alcohol. He has a distant relationship with his niece, Jasmine Plummer, until fate brings them closer together. It is at this point that Curtis Plummer realises his young niece has a talent for throwing a Rugby ball a long way very accurately!. Without spoiling the rest of the film Ice Cube basically becomes a Yoda figure to Jasmine Plummer and trains her in the art of throwing a Rugby ball without going to the dark side (Laces out Dan!).This film goes on to teach us a valuable life lesson. In one scene we have Curtis Plummer a smelling,dirty, down and out looking at the horrible state he has let himself become in a mirror. Whilst looking into this mirror and deep into his own heart does Curtis decide to change his ways? become a better uncle to Jasmine? become a role model to all those other down and outs around him? NO!!! he simply changes his shirt and puts on a bowler-esquire type hat. The message this gives to the young generation out there is that a small change can be all that is needed in life.After raving about this film you may wonder why i did not give this film 10 stars. Well my only niggle with The Longshots is the soundtrack. Instead of the kids winning their first American rugby game and a mediocre run of the mill instrumental accompanying the scene why not add Ice Cubes own masterpiece Roll All Day to make this a truly epic scene and epic film! For this film to be at a meager 2.7 on IMDb is a utter disgrace. What Durst,Cube and Cube vision have created is a minor miracle. GO BUY IT!

This movie doesn't do anything new. And yes,it is full of clichés. Who cares! People who love the genre will watch it anyways. This movie does what it aims for. And that is make you feel good. Nothing more nothing less. My only complaint is that it could have used more jokes. Keke Palmer as Jasmine is the first woman to take part in The Pop Warner Football Tournament. Surely they could have come up with more scenes to exploit this. Or at least show her struggle before being accepted as a team member of all boys. I also would have loved to learn more about Jasmin Plummer (Does she still play football?). Overall this movie is adequate and certainly not as bad as the low rating suggests.