The Longshots (2008)

Great Film overall

Captivating movie !

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

this movie tells the true story of an 11 yr old black girl who is the first girl ever to play on a Pop Warner football team, and she plays qb as well. Ice Cube does a great job in the film I thought, he plays an uncle who is taking care of his niece because the real dad is either in prison, or away somewhere not taking care of his child. the girl has to go thru many struggles to make it on the team, and at first she really doesn't like her uncle or even get along with him for that matter,, but he was a football player, so he decides one day to play catch with her,, and the two start throwing the football around, and he sees something in her that he used to have,, so he coaches her up and low and behold we got the girl trying out for the football team.. great family movie and should not be missed.

A very moving and uplifting story that can truly carry the tag "Against All Odds". This is another example that shows a decent movie can be made without sex, nudity, extreme violence and vulgar language. It may not be a blockbuster movie with allot of star power, but you won't be disappointed. It's a very good family movie for all ages and is still written well with very good acting. I would put this movie in the same category as "Finding Forrester"; another great sports related movie with an unknown actor playing the role of a character with a special talent, but meets resistance while trying to advance in life. The Longshots follows this same storyline and is a good (true story) movie about a small town girl who's father has left her and her mother, but finds the father figure she needs in her uncle. It shows how a talented small town girl can gain success when given the chance by society along with the love and support from family.

Ice Cube stars in the inspiring and very well done (by Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit?) of the first girl to quarterback a team in the Pop Warner Championship game.Yes its by the numbers and yes you kind of almost (though not quite) know how its going to come out, but at he same time Ice Cube and the rest of the cast sell the cliché and you really don't mind watching. High art? Hardly, but a good little film that is surprisingly better than the dozen or so similar films from the last couple of years (and trust me I think I've seen most of them and suffered through the uninspiring lot of them.Worth a look on cable if nothing else.

The only complaint I have is that the biggest gaffe of all has you following the dots- on Keke Palmer's face. In many scenes her acne is more than apparent while seconds later you're left wondering when she slapped on the miracle cream. It's VERY distracting. Also not her fault.Otherwise, Keke pulls off her part of this true life story of Pop Warner's first female quarterback wonderfully. Ice Cube's character, her uncle, develops realistically when it comes to his relationship with his niece.We had the choice of seeing this or Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D. I LOVE Brandon Fraser, but we were not disappointed in our choice. Our ten year-old son has heard the word "a*s" before, so that part really didn't bother me. The movie also contains teachable moments for parents to afterward discuss: how school can be rough when it comes to teasing and being made fun of.Fred Durst, yes, THE bad boy Fred Durst of music fame, did a credible job as well, proving he is multi-talented and can handle a family movie.All in all, the movie was well paced, nothing "dragged", and other than the above mentioned continuity issue our entire family enjoyed the movie.