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"THE LONGSHOTS"
(2008) (Ice Cube, Keke Palmer) (PG)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Minor Moderate Minor None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild None Minor None Mild
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Mild None Heavy Moderate Mild


QUICK TAKE:
Dramedy: An unemployed former high school football star convinces his lonely niece to try out as quarterback for the local Pop Warner league team.
PLOT:
Curtis Plummer (ICE CUBE) has seen better days. The former three-time MVP of his high school football team, his glory days are long behind him due to a knee injury that nipped his future career in the bud. Now unemployed due to the local factory shutting down in his hometown of Minden, Illinois, Curtis spends most of his time drinking beer from brown paper bags while avoiding going to church where Reverent Pratt (GARRETT MORRIS) tries to encourage the down-on-their-luck residents to be happy with what they have. Instead, Curtis can usually be found watching Coach Fisher (MATT CRAVEN) and his assistant, Cyrus (DASH MIHOK), try to make something happen with their hapless Pop Warner Football League team, the Minden Browns.

Things aren't much easier for Curtis' niece, Jasmine (KEKE PALMER). Since her deadbeat dad, Roy (MALCOLM GOODWIN), walked out on her five years ago, Jasmine's mom, Claire (TASHA SMITH), has to work extra hours, meaning the smart but shy girl is left alone. Picked on by other students at her school where her only friend is her teacher, Ronnie Macer (JILL MARIE JONES), Jasmine feels like an outcast, and isn't pleased when her mom decides to pay Curtis to spend time with her after class.

Curtis isn't happy about the arrangement either, but that changes when he realizes that his niece seems to have an inherent gift for throwing the football. With zero interest in sports, she thinks he's crazy when he states she should try out as quarterback for the Browns. But from that point on, and after dedicated training with her uncle, she makes the team and leads them on an unlikely winning streak into the playoffs.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're into amateur football, sports movies, and/or anyone in the cast, they might be interested.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG
For some thematic elements, mild language and brief rude humor.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • ICE CUBE plays a former high school football star turned unemployed factory worker who spends his days drinking beer and watching the local hapless football team practice. He reluctantly agrees to watch his niece after school for pay, but then shapes up his own act while convincing and privately coaching her to try out for the team. He uses some minor profanity and eventually becomes the assistant coach for the team where he trains and tries to inspire the players.
  • KEKE PALMER plays his smart but lonely niece who not only suffers harassment by students at her school, but also the boys on the team when she tries out for the quarterback spot. Through innate talent and lots of hard work, she proves herself by making the team and leading them on an unlikely winning streak, all while hoping her deadbeat father will reenter her life.
  • TASHA SMITH plays her single mom who works hard to support both of them and thus hires Curtis to watch Jasmine after school.. She initially isn't crazy about the football idea, but gets behind her daughter, and isn't happy when Roy shows up following Jasmine's sudden fame.
  • JILL MARIE JONES plays a school teacher who's kind to Jasmine and goes to the football games with Curtis.
  • DASH MIHOK plays the assistant coach on the team who's always trying to convince Curtis to join them.
  • MATT CRAVEN plays the head coach of the team who's frustrated by their lack of success and eventually has a non-fatal heart attack due to the related stress.
  • GARRETT MORRIS plays the local reverend who always tries to look on the bright side of life and thus impart that philosophy onto the local residents. He briefly uses profanity.
  • MALCOLM GOODWIN plays Jasmine's deadbeat father who shows up five years after leaving her, only because she's achieved fame and appeared on TV news stories.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated dramedy. Profanity consists of a mild amount of minor expletives, while some colorful phrases are also present. A postcard shows a close-up of a woman's bikini-covered bottom, while there's a comedic reference to testicles and a visual one to a clean jock strap.

    There's some hard tackling and blocking in football games and practice, while a female quarterback purposefully throws a football into an opposing boy's crotch. Other behavior might be enticing for kids to imitate, while various characters have bad attitudes. One scene briefly portrays an adult having a non-fatal heart attack, tense family material is present (accompanied by related thematic elements), a man drinks from a brown paper bag in public in various scenes, and there's a little bit of crude humor.

    Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Curtis buys a beer and we then see him drinking it outdoors from a brown paper bag. Cyrus then comments on Curtis spending all of his time drinking beer and playing backgammon.
  • Curtis drinks from a brown paper bag.
  • Curtis holds a beer in a brown paper bag at Jasmine's school while waiting for her.
  • Curtis holds a beer in a brown paper bag at Jasmine's house while waiting for Claire to return.
  • Curtis holds a beer in a brown paper bag in another scene.
  • Curtis has a beer.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Some students make fun of Jasmine, telling her to clean a toilet in the school bathroom (since her last name sounds like "plumber"), with one boy mockingly saying she better hope there's no "dookie" in it. Later, that boy or another refers to her as "dookie girl."
  • Jasmine comments several times about Curtis smelling bad.
  • About the townsfolk having to step up and take care of the town, Reverent Pratt says that his out-of-church philosophy is "Sometimes you just got to wipe your own ass."
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • A cheerleader at Jasmine's school is mean to her on various occasions. That includes asking her if she's seated at the nerd table, not meeting her after class as promised, and then leading her into a group of students who make fun of her and tell her to clean the school bathroom. Later, after Jasmine has made the team as the only female player, that cheerleader refers to her as "Jas-Man."
  • Claire pays Curtis to spend time with Jasmine after school (since Claire has to work extra hours), but despite being related (uncle & niece), the two initially aren't happy to be paired together and make that obvious to each other. That includes Curtis saying he's stuck with her because her father didn't want to be.
  • We hear that Jasmine's dad, Roy, left her and Claire five years ago.
  • Curtis tells Claire that he thinks Jasmine is weird and moody.
  • A student in Jasmine's class has a bad attitude toward Curtis.
  • Boys on the team make fun of Jasmine when they learn she's trying out for the quarterback spot.
  • During a game, an opposing player states that it's a joke that Jasmine is playing. For the first two plays, her own team doesn't block the opponents, thus allowing one player to tackle her to the ground hard. That player then states he's going to knock her out of her training bra, but when he rushes her, she throws a hard pass that strikes him in the crotch, doubling him over in pain. A male spectator then jokes that she isn't the only girl on the team now.
  • During practice, Jasmine accidentally overthrows a pass, with the football crashing through someone's window. Curtis then has her rush off with him to avoid detection (played for comedy).
  • After a hard tackle, a male player asks Jasmine, "You got a little dirt in your skirt?" When he's later blocked hard to the ground, she applies that taunt back at him.
  • Roy shows up, but only because he's seen news reports on Jasmine on TV. He then tries to act like a good father toward her, but then doesn't show up for her final big game, thus crushing her. Back home, he shows up again and tries to act good again, but she won't take his hand, returns his watch to him, and takes Curtis' hand instead (as her father figure).
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Coach Fisher suddenly looks pained on the field and collapses from a non-fatal heart attack. His son, one of the players, rushes to him.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Is this like the nerd table or something?" "Plumber girl," "McGeeky," "Your daddy's a punk," "You're a punk," "You really stink," "Damn, girl," "Yo, dookie-girl," "King-Kongs" (testicles), "You gotta be kidding me," "Are you crazy?" "Pansies," "This time I'm gonna knock her out of her training bra," "She ain't the only girl on the team now," "You got a little dirt in your skirt?" "Whatever," "Too old to be this damn stupid" and "Sometimes you just got to wipe your own ass."
  • Curtis often drinks beer from a brown paper bag in public.
  • Curtis and Jasmine both loudly belch in an exaggerated fashion.
  • By herself, Jasmine does an animated celebration dance after winning a game. Later, we see a montage of other players doing the same when Curtis asks them to show their stuff. After that, however, he teaches them about sportsmanship and not engaging in such egotistical displays.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A tiny bit of heavily-dramatic music plays in one scene.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 6 damns, 2 asses, 1 possible hell and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "God" and "Jesus."
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Curtis looks at a postcard from Miami that shows a close-up of the backside of a woman in a bikini bottom (but nothing explicit).
  • Regarding the prospect of Jasmine having to place her hands under his crotch in the traditional quarterback and center position, the center complains about her putting her hands under his "King Kongs" (testicles), prompting Coach Fisher to reply sarcastically, "Don't you mean your ping pongs?"
  • While putting on her football pads and uniform for the first time, Jasmine unfolds the clean jock strap and quickly drops it in grossed-out disgust.
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Claire pays Curtis to spend time with Jasmine after school (since Claire has to work extra hours), but despite being related (uncle & niece), the two initially aren't happy to be paired together and make that obvious to each other. That includes Curtis saying he's stuck with her because her father didn't want to be.
  • We hear that Jasmine's dad, Roy, left her and Claire five years ago, and that the girl constantly wears his watch in hopes that it might somehow bring him back home.
  • We hear that it's been two years since Curtis' mom died.
  • Curtis points out a photo of Roy in his old high school yearbook, but then closes that when he realizes how that affects Jasmine.
  • Coach Fisher suddenly looks pained on the field and collapses from a non-fatal heart attack. His son, one of the players, rushes to him.
  • Roy shows up, but only because he's seen news reports on Jasmine on TV. He then tries to act like a good father toward her, but then doesn't show up for her final big game, thus crushing her. Back home, he shows up again and tries to act good again, but she won't take his hand, returns his watch to him, and takes Curtis' hand instead (as her father figure).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • The comment that if you concentrate on what you don't have, you forget what you do have.
  • Girls playing organized football with boys.
  • The historical accuracy of this story and/or any artistic license taken with the facts.
  • How the shuttering of a factory in a small town can devastate it and its residents.
  • We hear that Jasmine's dad, Roy, left her and Claire five years ago, and that the girl constantly wears his watch in hopes that it might somehow bring him back home.
  • By herself, Jasmine does an animated celebration dance after winning a game. Later, we see a montage of other players doing the same when Curtis asks them to show their stuff. After that, however, he teaches them about sportsmanship and not engaging in such egotistical displays.
  • About the townsfolk having to step up and take care of the town, Reverent Pratt says that his out-of-church philosophy is "Sometimes you just got to wipe your own ass."
  • VIOLENCE
  • During a game, an opposing player states that it's a joke that Jasmine is playing. For the first two plays, her own team doesn't block the opponents, thus allowing one player to tackle her to the ground hard. That player then states he's going to knock her out of her training bra, but when he rushes her, she throws a hard pass that strikes him in the crotch, doubling him over in pain. A male spectator then jokes that she isn't the only girl on the team now.
  • During practice, Jasmine accidentally overthrows a pass, with the football crashing through someone's window. Curtis then has her rush off with him to avoid detection (played for comedy).
  • In various game and during practice there are hard tackles, blocks and such, but no one is hurt.



  • Reviewed August 18, 2008 / Posted August 22, 2008

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