What do you get when you cross a gangsta rapper with the front man of a fading nu-metal band? Would you believe a movie? Probably not, but it's true. Accepting that, would you believe that said film would be a family friendly one? Again, probably not, but again it is true.
That is what you have with The Longshots. It is a film that stars rapper/actor Ice Cube and was directed by Fred Durst, better known for singing about "nookie" and "breaking stuff" with Limp Bizkit. Frankly, I could not believe that Durst was directing. I couldn't, and still can't, see it. Sure, Rob Zombie has made the transition, but at least he is sticking with a genre that is in line with his music. Fred Durst directing a family film comes completely out of left field, or rather the backfield. Even more unbelievable than that is the fact it is a good movie.
The biggest thing that The Longshots has going against it is that this is nothing that we haven't seen before. Yes, it is based on a true story, but these stories all boil down to a recognizable pattern. This is not to belittle the story, which is about people who have done extraordinary things. The problem is these stories likely have a lot more to them than what makes it to the screen, but when adapting from reality to a movie that will probably run less than two hours requires that a lot of it gets stripped away, leaving the same plot beats each time. Frankly, it gets a little ho-hum after awhile. What is necessary to save the film are the performances and quality of writing, both of which The Longshots has.
This story is the one of Jasmine Plummer (Keke Palmer), an eleven-year-old girl who played Pop Warner football, taking her team to the championship game in 2003. This is notable because she was the first girl to play Pop Warner. Now, how closely this mirrors reality, I do not know. I do know that some facts such as the town where she lived and the team she played for have been changed. I am also pretty sure that what facts remain have been enhanced for dramatic effect. Although, I do not want to say too much, as this movie is more understated than I am used to seeing from the genre, making the film all the more enjoyable.
Jasmine Plummer is a smart, shy girl who has no interest in playing football, and suffers from abandonment issues, her father having left years earlier. Her mother runs the local diner and is doing the best she can for her daughter, meaning that when she has to work late hours she turns to Curtis (Ice Cube), Jasmine's uncle, to watch her. He is currently unemployed, after all. That is a distinguishing characteristic of the town: the local factory closed, leading to rampant unemployment, and an all around depressive atmosphere for many townsfolk, reflected in the empty storefronts along Main Street.
Article comments