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Gambl0r
Dec 25, 2003

LOCAL MAN
RUINS
EVERYTHING
Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Adam Sandler

I just got back from seeing the remake of The Longest Yard. Just as a note before my review, I have not seen the original movie, so I cannot compare the two. Because of this, I did not know how for sure how the movie was going to end in advance, which made me enjoy the movie more than I would have if I had known the ending.

Sandler does a great job as the former-NFL-star-turned-convict, both with his acting and athleticism. His role is not of the slapstick-variety as in Billy Madison, or even Happy Gilmore, but its far from serious too. I think this is just the right mix of comedy vs. seriousness for Sandler. While Sandler has some funny lines, the majority of the film's jokes come from the rest of the cast. Chris Rock is the main source of one-liners and the rest of the over-exaggerated characters each contribute their own joke (Fat guy can't run. Huge guy acts like little kid. American-Indian guy can't talk). The only thing I found repetitive was the amount of race jokes... but when a movie co-stars Chris Rock I guess you just have to expect that.

Burt Reynolds character is the seasoned football veteran that coaches the team. I think its cool that they managed to get him into the remake of the movie he originally starred in, but his role was a throw-away one. It didn't seem like he was necessary in the movie, and as quarterback, Sandler seemed more like the leader or the heart of the team than the coach.

James Cromwell plays the heartless warden just as you would expect him to. I think the casting director probably finished re-watching The Green Mile before casting this roll.

The action in the movie is good, with lots of loud, hard hits during the practices and final game. Some of the ways the guys get knocked around and fly through the air after getting smashed by some 300 pound player are insane. It makes you wish every play in the NFL actually looked like this. Although if it did, every player would be injured by the end of the first week.

There are some cool shots of the plays in action during the game. The director uses a slow-motion technique that has a slight blur around the moving players that I think makes it look more dramatic than if it was crystal clear. Other than that, there isn't much to say about the cinematography in the movie.

The music is fitting, mostly rap and hiphop in the training / jail scenes, and then standard sports-fanfare kind of music during the final game.

THERE ARE SPOILERS BEHIND THE SPOILER TAG!

The plot itself was very decent. In any sports movie you only have two possible outcomes. Your team wins, or your team loses. As I said, I had not seen the original movie so I did not know what happened in the end. I correctly assumed they would win the final game against the guards from the beginning since it seemed like too light of a movie to have a more serious ending. But even in the final seconds of the game, I was not sure how they would pull it off. There was a moment in the final seconds where I started to doubt my original prediction, since it seemed like all was going to go wrong. Plus, the death of one of the main characters was not something I would have assumed would happen in this kind of movie, although it made sense in the story, to act as blackmail for Sandler's character to lose the final game. Because of these few twists, I would not label the movie as *overly* predictable, just as predictable as the average sports movie.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. It is certainly not a masterpiece of a film, but entertaining, funny, and a great alternate movie to see this week if Star Wars isn't your thing ;)

RATING: 3.5

PROS: Suprisingly funny and entertaining. Funny secondary characters.
CONS: Somewhat predictable sports movie. Lots of 'race jokes'.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398165/

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d[-.-]b
Aug 1, 2004

my fav champ that hero who cats a spell that make all bad guy fall down and say my dick BIG
Extremely enjoyable, heavy on the laughs while still carrying the right amount of seriousness. Definitely one of the better of Sandler's films, probably coming right under Billy Madison for pure humor. Overall, though, I'd say it beats Billy Madison. I'd recommend watching it to anyone.

4/5.

suddenlyissoon
Feb 17, 2002

Don't be sad that I am gone.
i was shocked beyond belief on how much i enjoyed this movie. i laughed nearly the entire way through. definately the best sandler pure comedy film. i'll probably see it again monday.

4/5

StrikerObi
Aug 1, 2003
SECharger73 hates sad reminders :[
Maybe it's because I came into this moving coming out of Cinderella Man, but I only thought it was ok. There didn't seem to be enough laughs to go around. However, thumps up for the Florida State references :). I'm sure they were Burt's idea.

The jokes are repeated ad nausem. The movie has a handful of jokes it just keeps going back to again and again, and some of them aren't even funny. Also, and I guess I should expect this form an MTV film, the whole movie is a giant vehicle for product placement. It's downright shameless too. It really took me out of the experience.

On the bright side, some of the jokes are hilarious. The big actors do a good job with their roles. The football action is a lot of fun. There are quite a few "oh snap!" moments to be had.

I saw it for free (snuck in after Cinderella Man), it was worth that and the $2.50 I spent on Milk Duds.

2.5/5

JerryRudd
Apr 17, 2002

Power of the Pornstache
I don't know how I'd rate it compared to his other movies, as his movies vary as he ages. It was pretty good though, as good as the original. Not the greatest comedy on the face of the Earth by any means, but it makes a pretty good movie to see when nothing else looks good to watch.

Plus it has Bob Sapp in it, which is a big plus.

Note to those going with a girl: If you go with a girl, you don't earn any points pointing out old football/sports guys/wrestlers. They don't care.

3.5/5

a creepy colon
Oct 28, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Saw this saturday night and loved it. The balance between sports movie and comedy is near perfect. I didnt have a problem with all the race jokes and really didnt even notice them or I just dont remember them. I do remember the hilarious mcdonalds character who always smuggled food in from mcdonalds. Everything he said made me crack up.

In the end this is a movie made up of running gags surrounding the supporting cast. Sandler makes a few jokes but is largely a medium for the rest of the cast.

Also, I still cant believe that a movie with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, and especially Nelly didnt play these guys off as a gimmick.

Rating: 4.0
Pros: A more realistic Adam Sandler, better football scenes than 90% of movies in the genre out there, hilarious supporting cast, good pacing that never had me looking at my watch.
Cons: Cheerleaders during the game.

a creepy colon fucked around with this message at 01:31 on May 31, 2005

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NADZILLA
Dec 16, 2003
iron helps us play
Adam Sandler really takes himself seriously these days. Each of his most recent movies tries to make him act more adult, but the guy has no loving clue. All the jokes in this movie are at least embryonically derived from prior work. The only difference is that were this movie coming out in 1996, he'd be playing a charming buffoon instead of an unlikable rear end in a top hat.

I loved the move the convicts team pulled near the end of the game, where the talented player ran behind a wall of his teammates mowing down the other team. Just when I was thinking Hollywood needed a more gritty, "adult" remake of the Mighty Ducks. I also loved how when the convicts team knew they were lovely, Sandler went to recruit the black dudes. Black guys love sports!

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