“The Longest Yard” (Paramount Pictures)
For some reason Adam Sandler wanted to remake the 1970’s Burt Reynolds’ hit “The Longest Yard.” Why, is hard to fathom. The original film still holds up nicely and Sandler has nothing new or innovative to add with his remake. If anything the new version is less entertaining than the original, and that is because Burt Reynolds fit the role of a dirty pro football player and Sandler doesn’t.
The movie gets off to a weak start with a drunken Paul Crewe (Sandler) stealing his girlfriend’s new car and wrecking it. Courtney Cox-Arquette plays this girlfriend and it is a shrill cameo for her. Anyway Crewe gets sent to prison for three years and immediately meets with anger and hostility from the guards.
He also gets summoned to the office of the Warden (James Cromwell). He wants Paul to organize the convicts into a team to play against the guards. At first Paul refuses but after the Warden unleashes some threats, he agrees. The rest of the movie is spent watching the team get organized and then having the game played out.
Chris Tucker plays “The Caretaker” who becomes Paul’s right hand man. Burt Reynolds plays Nate Scarborough, a convict who was once a powerful athlete. He takes over the coaching of the team while Paul becomes the quarterback. Reynolds is gray and grizzled but still has that spark of a cocky, confident man.
The comedy comes from watching the team get assembled. The violence comes from seeing them beat each other up in practice. Sandler at times seems to be on the sidelines watching it all but not getting involved.
The movie would have been better served with more Chris Rock, less Burt Reynolds, and a more energetic Adam Sandler. The various supporting players that include Nelly, Bob Goldberg, Nicholas Turturro, and Steve Austin all do what they can to liven the film up with a series of brutal bone cracking actions.
There is also a bright segment with Cloris Leachman as the Warden’s secretary. Leachman is hilarious as this over-sexed woman and her appearance gives the movie a boost for a short time.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Sandler’s career appeared to be taking an upward turn with such films as “Spanglish,” “Fifty First Dates” and “Punch Drunk Love,” but this one is a step backwards. It is tedious in its violence and haphazard in its comedy. It even has Rob Schneider show up to utter his “you can do it” anthem. That seems to be some kind of “jumping the shark” equivalent.
“The Longest Yard” is a remake that shouldn’t have been remade. Sandler should have let the movie rest in peace and tackled some other original project.
I scored “The Longest Yard” a shortest 5 out of 10.
