The Longshots
User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8

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  1. ChadS.
    Aug 23, 2008
    6
    The Gracie(Carly Schroeder) of "Gracie" is actually actress Elizabeth Shue as a young girl who wanted to play soccer when soccer was a boys only sport. In the film's most stirring scene, Gracie looks at herself in the mirror like a guy would; she flexes her arm, as an athlete would, a male athlete. "Gracie" takes place in the seventies. This scene carries the weight of a revolution in progress. Gracie is more concerned with big muscles than big breasts. In "The Longshots", Jasmine Plummer(Keke Palmer) aspires to be a model, but her Uncle Curtis(Ice Cube) has bigger plans for his niece. He uses famous women as throwing targets, beautiful women who might be role models for a young African-American girl. Beyonce, Foxy Brown, and Tyra Banks are utilized for the drill; talented women in their own right, but sex objects. Tyra used to be Jasmine's idol. Now that the world has opened up for her, she needs new idols. Sports give girls like Jasmine the option of being more than a pretty face with a tight body. But football? Some may argue(remember New Mexico Lobos' placekicker Katie Hnida?) that the game is sacrosanct to boys, which gives "The Longshots" a tension that other inspirational sports movies lack: animosity towards the hero. Football's gatekeepers believe that the hegemony of boys in the most masculine of sports should be maintained. Jasmine's participation as the starting quarterback on her middle school football team is a threat to that hegemony, which makes "The Longshots" a political movie, but the filmmaker largely ignores this fact, preferring instead to focus on the emotional uplift of a dying town that the team's change of fortune provides. What it does, it does well, but there's a glut of movies just like "The Longshots".… Expand
  2. MiguelS.
    Aug 21, 2008
    0
    Lowbrow entertainment at its worst, don't waste your cash people!!!

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 19
  3. Negative: 2 out of 19
  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov
    20
    The Longshots strains so hard to inspire, every moment underlined with a by-the-numbers score, that it ends up totally innocuous.
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  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    40
    Every triumph registers low on the emotion meter, and most of the supporting characters are two-dimensional at best.
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  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    50
    While The Longshots is by no means an unpleasant experience, it feels like a project carried out by people who began with the best of intentions but weren't quite able to sustain their initial enthusiasm.
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