‘The Longshots’ is a Family movie set at the Backdrop of Football as sports. Many a times it happens that watching a movie becomes a memorable experience and sometimes its turn out to be a nightmare. Check out the review of ‘The Longshots’, based on a real story, directed by Fred Durst, with Ice Cube and Keke Palmer as the amazing Uncle-niece pair and find out what experience is in store!
Released On: 22nd of August 2008
Genre: Drama and sports, Comedy
Directed by: Fred Durst
Official Website: www.thelongshots-movie.com
Screenplay writers: Nick Santora and Doug Atchison
Produced By: Ice Cube, Nick Santora, Matt Alvarez
Star Cast: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Tasha Smith, Shane Kaufman, Jill Marie Jones, Dash Mihok, Miles Chandler and Matt Craven
Storyline/Synopsis: ‘The Longshots’ revolves around Curtis Plummer (Ice Cube) and his niece Jasmine (Keke Palmer) and their quest in the world of football. Curtis is a former high school superstar but now things are quite different. His niece Jasmine is a loner and his sister assigns him the task to be with Jasmine and understand her. Both of them are uniquely different but soon he realizes that his niece has all the essential qualities of a good football player. He decides to train her for the local team Minden Browns. But is it an easy job for a female player to make her mark in an all boys’ team? Circumstances changes and Curtis becomes the team coach. The team led by the awesome play from Jasmine makes its way and qualifies for the Pop Warner Super Bowl. What happens next? Can they be able make their Town proud? What are the obstacles that come in the way of this uncle-niece pair? Also, watch out for the incredible football skills in ‘The Longshots’.
The movie is rated PG for some thematic elements, mild language and brief rude humor.
Have a sneak peek at the exclusive videos of ‘The Longshots’
Strengths: The story of ‘The Longshots’ is inspiring and the central characters provide ample motivation for the audience. Acting wise all the actors have delivered decent performances but Ice Cube and Keke Palmer simply stands out. Ice Cube has a style of his own and that’s what makes him distinctly unique. This movie adds another feather in this talented actor’s cap. Keke Palmer as the amazing quarterback hits the Bull’s eye in terms of a spectacular performance after a dream debut in ‘Akeelah and the Bee’. She proves that she is one of the most promising actors of this time. Last but not the least the Director Fred Durst deserves a pat on the shoulder for making such a wonderful movie. Bringing out the fine performances from the actors and making the movie leave the desired impression are two of the high points of the Direction work. The fun element makes the movie more likeable.
Flaws: There are also some flaws in ‘The Longshots’ and greatest of them all is that the storyline becomes a bit predictable after a certain point of time and in the middle the movie somehow becomes slow.. Also, not much of Football is there in the movie, which could disappoint the sports lovers. And at times, during football scenes the camerawork and visuals become patchy.
Audience Verdict: The opinions of the audience could be clearly seen on their faces which were indicating that most of them loved this movie. However, there were some youth who found it a bit old fashioned. In short, the movie may not be an Oscar deserving one but it surely delivers what it should. Mostly appreciated by the audiences, my rating and Audience rating for the Movie are exactly the same **1/2 i.e. Two and a half stars out of Five. One for the finest performances from Ice Cube and Keke Palmer, One for the improvement in the Direction work by Fred Durst and another half in the hope of seeing more such movies being made.
Check out ‘The Longshots’ at your nearest theatre or wait for the DVD, in both ways you won’t be disappointed for sure.
