Action, laughs make up for unoriginality

The Longest Yard; 1:49; PG-13, for crude and sexual humor, violence, language, and drug reference; Grade: B+

They say there can be too much of a good thing, but I say they’re wrong. At least when it comes to football movies, anyway. Hollywood returns to the gridiron at least once a year, and that’s just not often enough. The Longest Yard is exactly what we hope for from this kind of movie. There are plenty of laughs, and just as importantly, some exciting and hard-hitting football action.

In the 2005 remake of Burt Reynolds’ 1974 semi-classic, Adam Sandler takes over as former NFL MVP quarterback Paul Crewe. On probation for racketeering charges (he shaved points in a football game), Paul heads to the slammer when he breaks his probation with a DUI.

When the warden (James Cromwell) forces Crewe to put together a team of inmates to play the jail’s semi-pro team of jail guards, Crewe enlists the help of former college coach Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds) and his resourceful buddy, “Caretaker” (Chris Rock). Using the prospect of free retaliation against the abusive guards as a recruiting tool, Crewe heads up this rag-tag gang of misfits to fight against all the odds and pull off the impossible.

Okay, so maybe that last line could be used to describe just about any number of other sports movies. Okay, so maybe The Longest Yard isn’t going to score any points for originality. Don’t care. Still like it.

The Longest Yard also doesn’t go for realism. The football nerd in me couldn’t help but notice little details they got wrong, like the fact that the formation in question really was illegal (they had no end), and that the fumblerooski doesn’t work, since a fumble can’t be picked up for forward progress. Oh, well. I’m a nerd.

What The Longest Yard does go for is comedy and action, and it scores a touchdown with both. Surprisingly, Sandler plays it straight, while most of the laughs come from Rock and the rest of the gang. There are also a number of great cameos, but I’m not going to ruin them by spoiling the surprise.

The Longest Yard is directed by Peter Segal, who previously directed 50 First Dates, Anger Management and Tommy Boy. Those movies all received generally poor reviews from professional critics, but were popular with audiences, and I imagine The Longest Yard will meet the same fate. Nothing wrong with that. This is a fun movie.

Comments? E-mail Weindl at joewatchesmovies@yahoo.com.