The Longest Yard (2005)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Peter Segal

Writers (WGA):

Albert S. Ruddy (story)
Tracy Keenan Wynn (1974 screenplay)

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

It was hard to put a team together... until they found out who they were playing.

Plot:

Prison inmates form a football team to challenge the prison guards.

Plot Keywords:

Warden | Prison | Convict | Coach | Prison Guard

Awards:

2 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	Paul Crewe
Chris Rock	...	Caretaker
Burt Reynolds	...	Coach Nate Scarborough
Nelly	...	Megget
Michael Irvin	...	Deacon Moss
Walter Williamson	...	Errol Dandridge
Bill Goldberg	...	Battle
Terry Crews	...	Cheeseburger Eddy
Bob Sapp	...	Switowski
Nicholas Turturro	...	Brucie
Dalip Singh	...	Turley
Lobo Sebastian	...	Torres
Joey Diaz	...	Big Tony (as Joey 'Coco' Diaz)
Steve Reevis	...	Baby Face Bob
David Patrick Kelly	...	Unger

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, violence, language and drug references.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Sweden:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:PG | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Filming of the football game occured during El Camino College's fall semester. As a result, the stadium set stayed up during El Camino's home football games. Some of the extras in the crowd during the stadium scene are El Camino College students.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Mean Machine goes in for their final touchdown in the game, the clock reads 6.0 seconds, yet after the ball is snapped and the running back starts to run with the ball, the clock is seen winding down from more than 6.0 seconds.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lorenzo: I love that dress.
Lena: Of course you do, Lorenzo, you made it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Sheldon Turner (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Railroad Blues

It made HOW MUCH????

People who lined up to bash this film had better get used to seeing more like it. Hollywood these days is stuck in a rut where three types of films account for nearly every film they release. Those are: remakes, sequels, and films based on comic book characters. The Longest Yard would of course fit into the first category. It is a slightly updated, but fairly faithful remake of the 1974 film of the same name. This time, we have Adam Sandler who plays the incarcerated quarterback that Burt Reynolds played in the original. Reynolds is on hand to play a minor role which the original film also contained. The plot is still the same. Prisoners vs guards in a game of football. Pretty simple.

Did the film make me laugh? Sure it did. There are more than a few chuckles, but not much in the way of side-splitting material. Sandler is actually not that memorable in this film. Some of the best performances actually come from people you might not expect. I was truly impressed with Nelly and Michael Irvin. Both men had their characters down, and really proved they could actually act. Chris Rock is about as good as you'd expect. Your own personal opinion of him will determine how you rate his performance. James Cromwell plays the corrupt warden about as well as you might expect. He's pretty much got the market cornered on evil white guy roles, since J.T. Walsh's untimely death. The rest of the cast becomes a game of "see if you can spot the NFL player, WWE combatant, or famous sports journalist". And what on earth was Cloris Leachman doing in the Bernadette Peters role from the original? Did she lose some kind of bet with Sandler on the set of Spanglish or something?

Should this film have been made? Well, we film critics can argue that point all day. The truth of the matter is that this film grossed over $150,000,000!!! As far as the studio bosses are concerned, this film was more than worth it. This was actually one of the more profitable comedies released this year, so you can expect more like it in the near future. I'll give it 6 of 10 stars. Don't expect anywhere near the film we got in 1974. But there are plenty of worse films on the shelves at your local video store.

The Hound.