Dash Mihok, Ice Cube and Keke Palmer star in Fred Durst's "The Longshots." Photo: Tony Rivetti Jr.
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The Longshots (PG-13) **½
Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News
Ice Cube's inevitable, uplifting sports bioflick The Longshots is here. It's not as dopey as the gangsta rapper's family comedies, though it is formulaic, which is kind of a shame since Jasmine Plummer's story is a pretty unique one.
Well-played here by Akeelah and the Bee's Keke Palmer, the middle-schooler was the first girl quarterback to take her team to the Pop Warner Super Bowl. In the film, she's a sullen bookworm with a long-gone daddy and no friends.
When her mom (Tasha Smith) takes an extra shift at the diner in their economically depressed little town, Jasmine's unemployed Uncle Curtis (Cube) is roped into hanging with the girl after school.
A former high-school gridiron star, now prone to wandering around with a pigskin in one hand and a Budweiser in the other, Curtis gets on Jasmine's nerves and vice versa. That section of the film is its best; the conflict between relatives is subtle and no-holds-barred, funny but persuasive.
Once Curtis discovers that his no-good brother at least gave Jasmine his excellent arm, though, it's just a matter of waiting out the clock until the redemption express picks up has-been, phenom and the whole blessed town.
The Longshots is quite generic, even down to the same treacly musical score heard in every other inspirational sports movie. But director Fred Durst, former Limp Bizkit frontman, deserves credit for keeping his cast and the film's gritty atmosphere real. Sure would like to see him make a movie that's as crazy as his band, though.
Cast: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer
Director: Fred Durst
Screenwriter: Nick Santora
Producers: Matt Alvarez, Ice Cube, Nick Santora
A Dimensions release. Running time: 94 minutes. Language, thematic elements, brief rude humor.
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