The Longshots – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Dec 5, 2008, 13:09 GMT

A fun, inspirational and heartwarming story of the first and only girl quarterback in Pop Warner football history and her uncle\'s exciting journey to make a team of misfits kids into a Pop Warner powerhouse. ...more

A broken down quarterback finds his chance at redemption through coaching his niece to be the first girl quarterback in Pop Warner football.  It’s a journey that the whole family can enjoy in this sports themed underdog tale.  

In the tiny town of Minden, Claire Plummer (Tasha Smith) needs some after school care for her daughter Jasmine (Keke Palmer) and hopes that she’ll take up some after school extra curricular activity.  Jasmine’s father left long ago and she’s still wishing he was around and wears his broken wristwatch wherever she goes. 

Another of the town’s lost residents is Jasmine’s uncle Curtis (Ice Cube).  He tore up his leg and lost his job when the town’s factory closed.  He now spends his day drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a beer can. 

In desperation Claire turns to Curtis to watch Jasmine after school.  One day when he’s picking her up from school Reverend Pratt (Garrett Morris) takes aside Curtis to toss the football around and to try and talk him into attending church.  When the ball goes astray Curtis has Jasmine throw it to him.  He recognizes her talent and begins to coach her on how to play football. 

He convinces Coach Fischer (Matt Craven) to give her a place on the local Pop Warner football team.  When Curtis finds himself on the coaching staff he finds a chance for redemption for him and the whole town is uplifted by the team’s chances as they set their eyes on the Pop Warner Superbowl.  

These sports films are usually much the same, but they also usually work.  I’m not a football fan, but we can all root for the underdog.  You don’t get much more of an underdog than the town of Minden. 

The factory closed and the town slowly began to whither.  Everyone needs someone to inspire them and when Jasmine takes up the ball the town rallies around the team.  It’s also a chance for Curtis to also face his problems as he pulls himself out of the gutter (ironically most literally since the accident that cost him his chance at a football career was in a gutter) and get on with his life again. 

Even better is that the film is based on a true story.  These underdog sports films may have some similarities but they also work.  I found myself rooting for Jasmine, Curtis, and the team.  Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, and the rest of the cast give it their all and they too score.  

Longshots is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include 19 minutes of deleted scenes.  Next is a 6-minute interview with the real Jasmine Plummer, Curtis, and the cast and crew.

There’s also the 8-minute making of, a 5-minute interview with Ice Cube, a 7-minute interview with director Fred Durst, and the 2-minute theatrical trailer.  

Longshots may have some familiar notes in it, but it hits all the right ones.  It’s a touchdown of a family film that all can enjoy.  It may even get you to want to go and toss the pigskin around with the kids.  My kids and I were glued to the screen.  Go Minden Browns!

Longshots is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.