Synopsis
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe suggests a tune-up game which lands him quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against the guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach and player Nate Scarborough, Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt warden trying to fix the game against them.
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Cast
- Adam SandlerPaul Crewe
- Chris RockCaretaker
- James CromwellWarden Hazen
- Burt ReynoldsCoach Nate Scarborough
- NellyMegget
- William FichtnerCaptain Knauer
- David Patrick KellyUnger
- Tracy MorganMs. Tucker
- Cloris LeachmanLynette
- Michael IrvinDeacon Moss
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
Sandler impressively assumes the Reynolds role here, with strong support by Reynolds himself and a slightly restrained but frequently hilarious Chris Rock. - 75
Charlotte Observer
Its crass good humor makes it an enjoyable, reasonably faithful but over-the-top successor to the original. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
This agreeable remake still manages to go the distance. - 63
Miami Herald
Whether you'll enjoy this loud and rowdy remake of a 1974 Burt Reynolds film depends on your tolerance for three things: football, Adam Sandler and unabashed product placement. - 58
Entertainment Weekly
Each joke and one-liner is a made-for-HBO zinger, each scene with Sandler a reaffirmation of the old friendship between the two successful SNL alums. - 50
The A.V. Club
The 2005 version refashions the material into a dual vehicle for Chris Rock and Adam Sandler, "Saturday Night Live" alums who specialize in lazy, ramshackle comedies that are just okay enough to not completely suck. - 50
Dallas Observer
It strains to be funny where the original's gags were efficiently deadpan, yet it's also so unbearably lazy, stooping to cliché and caricature when it backs itself into the shower. - 50
L.A. Weekly
Peter Segal's film, a predictable, choppy affair at best, boasts an understated, likable performance by Sandler, but here we never feel, as we did with the original, invested in the outcome of the final game, or convinced of the redeemability of the movie's sordid protagonist.
