The film, The Longest Yard is a great film starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock who work really well together and develop great chemistry in this action sports thriller. The film is directed by Peter Segal and he does a great job of getting the actors together and in the right position to capture the viewer’s attention.
The film starts out by introducing Adam Sandler as an ex football player named Paul Crewe who played quaterback and was very good in his prime. However one night at his girlfirend’s party he got too drunk, went out and sped off in his car, getting chased down by police cars and getting thrown in prison.
The prison where Crewe is in is run by warden Hazen played by James Cromwell. Cromwell runs a football squad that stars the prison guards on a football team that plays against other teams. Hazen is a huge football fan and wants his team to get better so he asks Crewe to put together a football team to play against the guards. Hazen sees potential in the game as big sports companies such as ESPN have committed to televise the games as criminals, convicts, guns and guards all in one big game which should attract a large television audience.
Crewe gets permission to assemble a team of prison inmates with the help of a caretakeer played by Chris Rock. They help train the badest and meanest criminals who want revenge on the prison guards for all the bad treatment and beatings they have been put through by the guards. Sandler and Rock train the men and also get the help of black criminals who only played basketball. The black criminals play once Sandler is challenged to a basketball game by another inmate and displays toughnes that is admired by the other players. This adds much needed speed in wide recievers and running backs to the team.
When Warden Hazen starts to get worried that his team might be beaten, he plants an explosive in Crewe’s prison cell which is blown up as the caretaker enters it and is killed. Warden Hazen threatens to blame Chirs Rock’s murder on Crewe if he doesn’t throw the game to the guards. This will put Crewe in prison for the rest of his life.
The big game is a lot of fun to watch and is full of smash mouth football. It is fun to watch and it one of the best parts of the film. With the game on the line, Sandler must choose to throw the game away and let his teammates down or win the big game and serve the rest of his life in prison. He chooses the later option and rejoices with his teammates as he wins the big game.
I enjoyed the film. While the acting could have been better, Sandler and Chris Rock had good chemistry together and acted well in the film. I would recommend this film to any viewer.
