Remaking a film often comes with a lot of baggage. Mostly from fans of the original film who fear that the new picture will ruin the reputation of the older version. Luckily for director Peter Segal and star/producer Adam Sandler, their remake of the classic football comedy film “The Longest Yard,” is good enough to hold its own, as well as make the audience want to go see the original.
The story of “The Longest Yard,” is as far-fetched and ridiculous as Sandler himself. Paul Crewe (Sandler), a former National Football League Most Valuable Player for Pittsburgh and star quarterback at Florida State, is sent to federal prison after breaking his parole by stealing his girlfriend Lena’s (Courteney Cox) car. Crewe, who was on parole for being brought up on federal racketeering charges for shaving points on an NFL game, is sent to Allenville Federal Penitentiary. Allenville is a bad place, ran by a corrupt warden and a group of brutal, steroid enhanced, racist guards. (Allenville’s guards mostly consist of former All-American football players who were not drafted by the NFL) Allenville’s warden, known simply as Warden Hazen (James Cromwell), is a football fanatic with ambitions of becoming a hot shot in the Texas political system. Already highly regarded for how well he runs his prison and the success of his guard’s football team, Hazen is a leading candidate for governor. This is where Crewe comes in. Hazen wants him to help his team, but Crewe is not very turned on by the idea. When Crewe is finally persuaded by Hazen to help, the former MVP informs the warden that what his team needs is a warm-up game. The warden loves the idea and informs Crewe that he is in charge of creating one, using the prison’s inmates.
With the help of his friend Caretaker (Chris Rock), Crewe goes about finding the sickest and most repulsive prisoners possible to help them beat the guards. To get an idea of what Caretaker is like, imagine Morgan Freeman’s character Red in “The Shawshank Redemption,” only 20 to 30 years younger and with a more sarcastic and smartass personality. After gathering a squad and recruiting fellow inmate Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds), the 1955 Heisman Trophy winner, to coach, Crewe and Caretaker are finally able to start creating a team. (Reynolds played Crewe in the original 1974 version of the film).
Rock and Sandler work well together and form an odd couple that is both humorous and sincere. It’s the film’s sincerity that separates it from the usual Sandler comedy. Both he and Rock understand that they are working with a classic piece of sports cinema and treat this film with the respect it deserves. It is obvious that they are having fun and in the end that is what this film is all about. Sandler’s Crewe is a quick-witted smartass who does things the only way he knows how: All out and very tongue-in-cheek. Sandler carries this film, and for the first time, in a long time, he portrays a comedic character that is not overly annoying nor overly weird. It is by far his best acting job in a comedic film.
Though Sandler steals the show, the supporting cast holds its own. Nelly does a great job as Earl Megget, the convict’s running back. Michael Irvin is convincing as the tough-nosed wide receiver Deacon Moss, and Tracy Morgan is disturbingly funny as Ms. Tucker, a prison transvestite. This film also has an abundance of former and current professional wrestlers suiting up to play ball. Both Kevin Nash and Steve Austin play guards and Bill Goldberg plays a convict named Joey Battle. The film also has former professional football players like the “king of ‘roids” Bill Romanowski and “The Boz” Brian Bosworth joining Irvin as on screen, grid-iron warriors. This film also features one of the oddest cameos ever. Dan Patrick, the host of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” plays a police officer sporting a bushy mustache, making him look like a member of the Village People.
The only major problem facing this version of “The Longest Yard,” is that MTV is one of its producers so the film is littered with terrible pop music and features more advertisements than a NASCAR race. Overall, this is a fun summer movie. Yes, it is predictable. Yes, it is at times cheesy, but all in all it is a fun film. Truly a summer movie that entertains and makes the audience want to see the original. At the end of the day, that’s all you can really hope for.
