Adam Knows Sports!

The Longest Yard... A Re-Make

The Longest Yard came out back in 1974 with Burt Reynolds playing start quarterback Paul Crewe. It is always said that what is old shall become new again, and thus, we have the new The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler as QB Paul Crewe.

Crewe was busted for shaving points off his pro games. He was forever black-balled due to this activity. He finds himself in a world of trouble after getting lit up, driving erratically while drinking, smashing his girlfriend's Bentley up and especially all into a police car (after insulting the officers), and just being the normal person Adam Sandler loves to play. He finds himself serving a hefty sentence behind bars.

Warden Hazen loves the Guards Vs Cons football game. He's working a new one up when Crewe enters the facility. Immediately, Crewe is summoned to take charge in the creation of the inmate team, despite is lack of interest. He meets up with Caretaker, played by Chris Rock and together they set out to find a team to whip up on the guards and seek the revenge and hits that the inmates have dreamed of.

What's Old Shall Become New
Just as the line states, it's time to bring back a classic. Burt Reynolds, the original Paul Crewe, is now the "coach" for the inmates team, dubbed "The Mean Machine." He's pumped up about the team and about the prospect of getting in on some pigskin action himself.

The Stars Come Out
There is a truly all-star cast in this movie and the longer I watched, the more I was expecting a red carpet and someone to hand out awards. In The Longest Yard (2005 version), you will see:
Adam Sandler
Burt Reynolds
Chris Rock
Nelly
Michael Irvin
David Patrick Kelly
James Cromwell
and more!

(If you have an interest in jail-house movies, you may have seen The Green Mile. Cromwell is also the warden in that movie! I guess he likes life behind bars!)

The Low Down
Crewe is on a mission to build this team. He meets much resistance but eventually gets a group of volunteers. He then finds respect from a group of black ball players who originally scoffed at him. Together, they find a great rhythm and set out to win this match-up.

I'm not sure if it was the intensity and heat of the match-up between the guards and cons, or just those lovely cheerleaders in drag with their sexual innuendos, but something prompted the attention of national sports television and announcers from ESPN! Wow!

The warden tries his hardest to make times tough for the cons. Flood, explosion, death, bodily harm... he pulls out all the big guns. The men don't back down!

It's game day... the cons have one heck of a team and put out some hits and beatings that leave some seeing stars; someone even discovers a nutcracker! The Warden is ill and looks to put a stop to the madness... but can he do it? It's in the hands of Paul Crewe and his Mean Machine. Want to know what happens next? Watch the movie! It's great!

With the McDonald's humor, the violence on the field, the typical Adam Sander cracks, and the entertaining ways of stars like Nelly and Rock, this movie has a little of everything.

Summary
I wouldn't recommend young children viewing it. There is quite a bit of language and off color humor. There are many, many sexual references. It carries a PG-13 rating, but I'd almost push for an R rating for this film.

It follows along the plot and even some exact lines from the 1974 version and I found that interesting. I think it was nice to see Burt Reynolds as star in one version and supporting actor in the other. It's as if he handed the throne to the younger star.

This is a movie that clearly cries "Adam Sandler." His wit and humor added much that the original lacked. I enjoyed Cromwell in the role of warden in comparison to the 1974 version where Eddy Arnold (star of Green Acres) played the part. Zsa Zsa and Arnold the Pig weren't following him around the field or prison, so I didn't find that role suiting for him.

If you like Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, football, revenge, sarcasm, witty-humor, or off color laughs, you may want to check out this movie. I rented it on DVD to watch at home. I wish I had viewed it while in theaters. It would have been great on the big screen.

For the record, if you think you've finally found an Adam Sandler movie without Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow, delivery guy in Big Daddy, neighborhood fellow in The Waterboy, etc....), think again! You'll find him popping out at you here as well.

I'm a big fan of Sandler's and I will definitely be adding this one to my collection. I say, "Well Done!" My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

Action Fair
Actors Great
Plot Good, sometimes predictable
Run Time 109 minutes... decent time!
Genre Comedy
Released on DVD 09/20/2005

(c)2005 ~Becky Carte~