It’s not poetry, but it’ll do. The remake of
The Longest Yard doesn’t
mess with the basic plot of the original: It’s still about a shamed former
football player (Adam Sandler) who ends up in prison and in charge of assembling
a team of scrubs to play a warmup game against the guards. What happens in between
is another story: Where the Burt Reynolds original was a gritty, serious film
with a sense of humor, the new
Yard is a comedy vehicle with some serious bits
uncomfortably wedged inside. You get more laughs, but you also get more product
placements, cameos and other things that scream "big budget cash-in."
Not a bad time at all, but the better movie was made 30 years ago. Chris Rock,
Nelly, Reynolds and bunch of wrestlers also star, but the best scenes belong to
MMA fighter Bob Sapp and, oddly, Cloris Leachman.
Extras: Director commentary, three behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes,
music videos, bloopers.
DVD Grade: B