by Thomas Ferguson

Is it just me or has Ice Cube become the new Bill Cosby? I mean,  he has gone from playing  thugs to family man. From the Are We There Yet? movies to his new entry The Longshots, he is slowly becoming the new Cliff Huxtable. All that is missing is his collection of colorful sweaters.

Curtis Plummer (Cube) is a down -and- out former football star living in the past and living in a lifeless town in Illinois. He dreams of a life outside of his small town, but like all the other locals, feels trapped. His mundane life is rocked when his sister-in-law Claire (Tasha Smith) asks him to watch his niece Jasmine (Keke Palmer) for a few hours after school. Unmotivated and unemployed Curtis takes the challenge, but has no clue how to entertain an eleven year-old girl. Like most people in this situation, he teaches her how to play football. Seeing that she has an amazing arm and natural given talent, he rallies for her to play quarterback for the lackluster middle school football team. After a harsh initial reception and hazing from her teammates, Jasmine becomes the star player and leads them to the Pop Warner football  tournament, the Superbowl for middle school football.

Based on a true story, The Longshots, is the classic underdog story brought to the big screen...yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I love motivational stories, but there was nothing truly memorable here. I love Cube, Smith, Palmer and even Girlfriend’s Jill Marie Jones as actors, but the script was beyond formulaic. There were a few smile making moments throughout, but nothing truly original.

I do like the fact that you can take the whole family to see this movie. I also appreciated the fact that rocker Fred Durst directed... how random is that? Unfortunately, I didn’t feel this movie like the rest of the audience.

Worth a look, but absolutely no need to rush.