REVIEW: ‘Longshots' is typical sports film: formulaic but inspiring

What is it about sports movies that consistently inspires? The most mediocre sports film can still stir the heart, if only for the short time they flicker in the darkness of the theater. The truly great sports films inspire decades after you leave your seat.

"The Longshots" is not a great sports film. It unquestionably fits snugly into the middling mold. And yet, even it rouses within the confines of its own inadequate influence.

Eleven-year-old Jasmine Plummer (Keke Palmer) lives in Minden, Ill., a struggling, industrial, American heartland town. With her nose perpetually in books, she is an outcast among her peers. Her uncle Curtis (Ice Cube) embodies the town's sad sack attitude. Jobless, the former high school football star takes Jasmine under his wing when he discovers that she has an amazing arm. Curtis is so impressed with Jasmine's ability that he convinces the local Pop Warner football team that she deserves a spot as the team's quarterback. While many scofl at the idea of a female quarterback, they begin singing a different tune when Jasmine leads the beleaguered Browns to the championship and gives the town of Minden something to live for.

"The Longshots" is corny and absurdly predictable. Each frame is crafted to tug at your heart strings. Perhaps it is the simplistic writing. Maybe it is the way the film vaults over passages of time without any defining emotional benchmarks, or wraps up grand passages with a solitary exchange. It could be former Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's generally uninspired direction. Or maybe it's the perverse power of the montage. Want to show an appallingly bad team coming together and discovering it is invincible? Toss in a rousing score, a few inspired sound bites, and close-ups of armored bodies colliding. At the end, we know they're ready to take on Hercules' labors. Even if it's only been two days.

This battle-of-the-sexes dramedy is based on the true story of the first girl in the history of Pop Warner (the football equivalent of Little League). "The Longshots" parallels Palmer's earlier film, "Akeelah and the Bee"; instead of a misfit young girl who discovers a talent for spelling and rejuvenates her down-on-its-luck community, she plays a misfit young girl who discovers a talent for football and rejuvenates her down-on-its-luck community.

We've seen "The Longshots" a dozen times or more already. There's nothing new here. We could plot out every beat from just a fleeting look at the first act. And yet, we keep coming back. Why? Because in the end, "The Longshots" is a feel-good film. Name a sports movie that isn't. And while "The Longshots" is far from original - much less first-class - it is effective in its own, middle-of-the-road way.

DETAILS
The Longshots

Cast: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Tasha Smith
Director: Fred Durst
Playing at: Hollywood, Tinseltown
Rated: PG (for some thematic elements, mild language and brief rude humor)
Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Grade: C