Retired NFL wide receiver Jaycen “Two-J’s” Jennings (played by Snoop Dogg) is trying his best to live an entitled, affluent life while also struggling with his negative public persona. His ultimate goal in retirement is to have his own sports talk show but, during a tirade with his agent (Kal Penn), he gets into a car accident. He finds himself in front of a judge who sentences him to 300 hours of community service in his hometown of Long Beach, California. On one of his court-appointed trash pick-up sessions, he sees a young football team without a coach. He also notices that his old flame, Cherise (Tika Sumpter), is one of the team mom’s. After consulting with former high school classmate Kareem (Mike Epps) and his high school coach (George Lopez), he decides that the best way to get some of Cherise’s time is to act like he cares about her son’s team. He immediately puts on a front and assumes the role of their coach. After a few weeks, however, Jennings has taken to the kids and his attitude starts to change. But when he gets offered that talk show opportunity he’s been waiting for, will Jennings abandon the players like so many other men have before him?
Is it a typical underdog sports story? Yes. Is it largely predicable? Of course. Does it even feel “cheap” in spots? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean it’s not charming, full of heart and funny as hell. Underdoggs is a riot from start to finish. Snoop isn’t displaying any kind of acting range but, when it’s this hilarious, who cares? He’s doing what he does best and being effortless at doing so.
In fairness, for some, the shock value of kids swearing left, right and sideways won’t sit well. In a genius move by director Charles Stone III, the movie addresses this right up front with its opening frames literally being a warning that super serves the audience context for the film. After that, it’s on you if you want to sit there for 90 more minutes and endure 11 year olds calling adults b**** a** n*****.
There’s empathy, there’s sympathy and there’s even relatability. Lesser comedies depend on their jokes to move the story forward. The Underdoggs gets you invested and propels its message through situations and character development. You actively want Jennings to teach the kids how to be great. You are genuinely rooting for the team to have success. You are truly disturbed when the kids start modeling the behavior of their coach. We love other comedies who offer way less and that makes this one a must-watch.
While not for everyone, The Underdoggs is a great way to spend an hour and a half. The writing is clever, the shock value is there for a reason and, boiled down to its essence, the story is relatable on many levels. If you’re a fan of comedies, a fan of hip hop culture or a fan of life lessons, you’ll appreciate your Amazon Prime membership a little more after watching The Underdoggs. Laughter is infectious so it’s a shame this didn’t make it into theaters.
JKG SCORE: 7.0
Untitled Film Project 