The Longest Yard (Widescreen Edition)
by Peter Segal
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DVD details
Actor: Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds, Chris Rock, Michael Irvin, NellyDirector: Peter Segal
Brand: Paramount
Producer: Adam Sandler
Producer: Albert S. Ruddy
Writer: Albert S. Ruddy
Producer: Allen Covert
Producer: Barry Bernardi
Writer: Sheldon Turner
Writer: Tracy Keenan Wynn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-20
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Longest Yard (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: The Moose Hole - Sandler Playing the Foozeball Again
Summary: 4 Stars
As the North American box office begins to stage a recovery from its rather lethargic slump over the past few months earlier this year, though still quite far from where studio executives would desire it to be, thanks to the release of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith last weekend, focus now shifts to comedian Chris Rock whose two films, both with entirely different demographics, lead the Memorial Day weekend. While Rock has taken quite a bit of criticism as of late due in part to his lackluster performance as host of the 77th Annual Academy Awards presentation, whether this was due to censorship limitations or his own material's inability to clash with the ceremony's key demographic is insignificant, his movie career has yet to be impacted. And should The Longest Yard and Madagascar perform significantly this weekend, even if they end up behind the last Star Wars film on the box office charts, there is no sign that it will be slowing down any time soon.
The story for The Longest Yard is not of significance as soon as the game between the guards and the convicts begins and violence quickly ensures. It is all but forgotten with the audience along with a few of the players onscreen as well. How precise this inception follows its predecessor's storyline is not of concern either. This is an Adam Sandler project after all and like another remake he made a few years ago called Mr. Deeds he pays no heed to the classics as long as laughs are able to be made, no matter how lowbrow they may be. However, as Sandler has (somewhat) matured over the years so have the atmospheres of his films. In the past, films such as Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison would be nothing but comedic entertainment from beginning to end. But as was evident with Big Daddy, Sandler began developing a level of sobriety in his projects. The Longest Yard is the most extreme example of this with a heavy emphasis on violence, which in this case is not the comedic kind, and racial slurs. This is a relatively minor difficulty but one which may catch certain audience members off guard if they are not prepared for it.
Adam Sandler may exhibit the eccentric personality which makes the cynical and downtrodden Paul Crewe who he is but quite noticeably he lacks the corporeal build of a former NFL quarterback, even one who has been removed from the game for several years. This abstracts from the audience's ability to perceive Sandler's character as a man who is able to bring his underdog team of convicts to victory, even to the last second of the game. This could have been passable in his other football comedy, The Waterboy, seeing as how Bobby Boucher was the underdog who was not foreseen as one who could rise above the odds, but doesn't here. Burt Reynolds on the other hand thoroughly symbolizes the physical build of a man whose fans abandoned him years ago but he has yet to either accept this fact or relegate himself to this position in life. Reynolds, who starred in the original 1974 film, The Longest Yard, on which this picture was based on, fits impeccably in the role of the gruff Coach Nate Scarborough. The only gripe against his character is that Reynolds appears rather late in the storyline and doesn't receive as much screen time as the audience would need to connect with him, although he certainly makes up for his absence in the last half hour of the picture. Surprisingly Chris Rock is not as irritating in this film as he could have been though his white/black people jokes do get old as the movie progresses. Rock's departure in the film leaves a hole in the flow of the picture which is not easily replaced, but it is so late in the film that it is hardly noticeable. And James Cromwell performs to perfection in the role of the corrupt Warden Hazen. Cromwell has had past movie experience in the role of a warden years earlier with his appearance in The Green Mile, although that was a more dramatic opportunity then this one to say the least.
Tracy Morgan appeared to have dropped off the face of the planet following his abrupt departure from Saturday Night Live, which few noticed immediately seeing as how at the time he had been restricted to a skit or two per episode to begin with, and after the cancellation of his NBC television program, but his unsettling appearance in The Longest Yard demonstrates he retains the ability to scrounge up work every now and again. Did Adam Sandler, who happens to also be a Saturday Night Live alum, bale him out with a role in this film? Though Sandler has been known to do that for a number of former cast members, especially with his close friend Rob Schneider, Chris Rock may be more to blame for this one given Morgan had a role his Rock's Head of State a year ago. The further it is poured on through the film the more exasperating it becomes for the audience to tolerate without a garbage can nearby. Those with weak constitutions are given no reprieve especially when it comes to the scene Adam Sandler has with Cloris Leachman, his co-star in the James L. Brooks' film Spanglish. Leachman plays Lynette Reynolds, the Warden's secretary, who is obsessed with Crewe's underwear advertisements and forces him to engage in activities of a sexual nature in order to obtain tapes of the guards' games from past seasons. This is of course recorded via the security camera in the room and is shown to the inmates shortly thereafter, much to the chagrin of audience members. It may have been humorous on a certain level in suggestive form but outright repugnant when actually carried to a certain degree onscreen. Courteney Cox's breasts make a brief appearance in this film as those belonging to Crewe's girlfriend, Lena. This must have been while she was pregnant with her first child which actually makes her abrupt stint in The Longest Yard, a mere cameo actually, all the more discomforting. And what would an Adam Sandler film be without Rob Schneider's "You can do it!" which surprisingly has not gotten old after all these years.
Overall, The Longest Yard fulfills the promise its advertising suggests it set out to accomplish from the beginning which was to deliver a load of cheap laughs to its audience in a senseless piece of comedic entertainment, albeit coming off a bit abrasive, mean-spirited, and even indecisively salacious in the process. This not uncommon amongst Adam Sandler pictures so this should not come as a surprise at all to his royal fan-base which undoubtedly be the backbone of this film's box office receipts. It is quite unusual to see that The Longest Yard received a PG-13 rating especially given its prominent use of vulgar language, particularly racial slurs aimed at the black community, and excessive violence which can hardly be viewed as comical in nature. This however does not necessarily go against the film considerably but it can be quite off putting for a few audience members not accustomed to this sort of behavior in their comedies. There is not a whole lot to say about this film other then the attitude one will have for it vastly depends on how you have viewed Adam Sandler and his comedies in the past. It definitely pales in comparison to his previous football picture, The Waterboy, but it's humorous enough to be recommendable for a shameless evening at the movies.
Description of The Longest Yard (Widescreen Edition)
THE LONGEST YARD tells the story of pro quarterback Paul Crewe (Sandler) and former college champion and coach Nate Scarboro (Reynolds) who are doing time in the same prison. Asked to put together a team of inmates to take on the guards, Crewe enlists the help of Scarboro to coach the inmates to victory in a football game fixed to turn out quite another way.Adam Sandler is no Burt Reynolds, but his remake of The Longest Yard is amusing enough to stand on its own. Inheriting the role played by Reynolds played in the 1974 original, Sandler plays Paul Crewe, a scandalized former football star who violates his parole and winds up back in the slammer, where an ambitious, corrupt warden (James Cromwell) manipulates him into forming a convict football squad to compete with a team of bullying prison guards. But where the original (directed with characteristic ruggedness by Robert Aldrich) was a semi-comic study of inmate resistance against powerful oppressors, Sandler's version is a formulaic comedy about winning against the bad guys. That makes it a softer, less meaningful film, and Sandler (reuniting here with Peter Segal after Anger Management and 50 First Dates) lacks the depth to convey anything more than amiable redemption, resulting in a movie that's easily enjoyed and easily forgotten. A co-starring role for Chris Rock could have been electrifying; instead it's just OK, as is Reynolds as the prison team's old-pro coach. That leaves us with a few good laughs on the football field and from Cloris Leachman as the warden's elderly, oversexed secretary, good work from rapper Nelly in a supporting role, and the lovely sight of Courteney Cox (as Crewe's nagging girlfriend) in a dazzling low-cut dress. In unnecessary remakes like this, fringe benefits count for a lot. --Jeff Shannon
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