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Adapted from the quarterback's same-titled memoir, "American Underdog" has a distinctive, at times kooky vibe that's appealing, even as its cause-and-effect narrative doesn't explain how Warner managed to enter the National Football League from far outside the normal channels, and at an older age than was common. Simply put, the film kinda makes it seem like Warner went from being an un-drafted free agent to playing arena ball to the St. Louis Rams and a Super Bowl XXXIV victory mainly on the basis of being a decent and devout guy who treats his loved ones well and does the tedious, necessary work of daily life even when he doesn't feel like it. If that were the case, professional sports teams all over the world would be staffed exclusively with nice, caring people, many of them out-of-shape.  

No matter. "American Underdog" was adapted and directed by Andrew and John Erwin, who make very successful movies for the American Christian market (including "Mom's Night Out" and "I Can Only Imagine"), and that explains the focus and messaging. This is a movie about virtue, commitment, and faith, and how if you possess and diligently maintain those qualities, good things will happen for you, if not immediately, then eventually. 

Although "American Underdog" doesn't scrimp on football action—there are several sequences done on an appropriately grand scale—the focus is on Kurt ( Zachary Levi ) and his future wife Brenda ( Anna Paquin ). They meet in the early '90s, when Kurt, who played college ball at the University of Northern Iowa, is working at a grocery store and sending VHS highlight reels to recruiters, and Brenda, an Army veteran, is raising her legally blind, brain-damaged son, Zack (Hayden Zaller), after being abandoned by her cheating husband. The early focus is on the budding relationship between Kurt and Brenda, and surprisingly, that's where it stays. 

Levi and Paquin are too old to convincingly play the characters at this phase of their lives (Levi is 41, Paquin is 38) and they've been fitted with unfortunate wigs, but their chemistry is excellent and they're both exceptional actors, so it's not hard to get past all that. The best thing about the film is its refusal to move according to the prescribed rhythms of the standard-issue sports picture. From start to finish, it prefers to focus on what's happening off-field. It returns to the gridiron only when it's time to set up the next career milestone, and the milestones are only important inasmuch as they affect the lives of Kurt, Brenda, and Zack. "American Underdog" is about a couple moving through the years and getting to know each other and look out for each other. This approach might be unique among sports films. The genre tends to reduce the hero's partner to a supportive figure standing on the sidelines (or a constantly crying person who wants him to stop playing for health reasons). 

Early on, there's a nice, long scene where Kurt, who met Brenda at a local honkytonk club, shows up at her house to deliver a single red rose, only to realize that she's not there. Zack invites him in, taking him by the hand. Brenda's mother, who lives there, finds Kurt and Zack lying side-by-side on the kitchen floor (because that's what Zack wants them to do). She jokes that he must be here to see Brenda, and she's not concerned that he's an intruder because why would an intruder lie on his back on the kitchen floor next to a blind kid? The scene is so odd (in an appealing way) that it can only have come from life, and there are many scenes like it, including one set during icy winter wherein the family's car runs out of fuel on an interstate highway and Kurt has to leave them there and walk for several miles to fill a gas can and walk it all the way back. What does that have to do with football? Nothing, but it's the kind of thing that happens all the time, and you never see it in movies.

The problem, though, is that "American Underdog" doesn't ever really connect the modest virtuousness of Kurt and Brenda to Kurt's ascension as a quarterback. What makes the film unique among sports movies is the focus on the central relationship, and you could even go so far as to say that you could make the exact same movie about a man who drove a bus or managed a shoe store and went on to win bus driver of the year or shoe store manager of the year, provided that you could get the funding for a movie like that (a big "if"). Unfortunately, though, if the point were that this person came into the profession and became a huge success despite not being the kind of person who normally gets within shouting distance of such a dream, you'd still need to give audiences a sense of the qualities that allowed him to break through, other than repeating over and over, "He was a nice guy who believed in God and was good to his girlfriend and her son." 

I realize that's the point of making this specific movie for this specific part of the entertainment market, and I have no idea how one would go about making such a film, but still, it's frustrating. That football doesn't care whether its players are good people could be the subject of a film about faith and values, too.

Available in theaters on December 25th.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

American Underdog (2021)

Rated PG for some language and thematic elements.

112 minutes

Zachary Levi as Kurt Warner

Anna Paquin as Brenda Warner

Dennis Quaid as Dick Vermeil

Bryce Bruckbauer as Young Matt Warner

Beau Hart as Young Kurt Warner

Bruce McGill as Jim Foster

• Andrew Erwin

Writer (based on the book "All Things Possible" by)

• Kurt Warner
• Michael Silver
• David Aaron Cohen

Cinematographer

• Kristopher Kimlin
• Sean Albertson
• John Debney

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‘American Underdog’ Review: A Football Fairy Tale

Zachary Levi plays the N.F.L. star Kurt Warner in this biopic. It’s a wan parable about love and hard work.

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By Teo Bugbee

The biopic “American Underdog” centers on the quarterback Kurt Warner, a football player from Iowa who had an unconventional rise to becoming a National Football League champion. Warner’s story is inspirational but intricate, and this wan film struggles to balance simple storytelling with the complexities of the sport.

Unlike many football stars, Warner (Zachary Levi) wasn’t drafted into the N.F.L. after graduating from college. For years following his graduation from the University of Northern Iowa in 1993, Warner worked at a grocery store, building highlight reels to send to sports agents on his time off. The film begins in this fallow period, dramatizing how Warner met Brenda (Anna Paquin), the woman who would become his wife. The couple shared common faiths in Christianity and each other. With Brenda by his side, Warner was eventually given a place on an arena football team. The opportunity enabled Warner to prove himself at a professional level, if not yet on an N.F.L. scale — that would come afterward, in 1997, with an offer from the St. Louis Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams). The rest, to football fans, is history .

Romance was an important part of Warner’s story, and the performances from Levi and Paquin are convincing — a feat, given their characters’ inexplicably helmet-headed hairstyles. But the film has minimal insight into how Warner navigated the institution of professional football. The movie’s directors, the brothers Jon and Andrew Erwin (“Woodlawn,” “I Still Believe”), glaze over the details that depict how teams seek talent. Warner’s triumphs seem to rest more on his noble character than on gameplay specifics — a dubious notion given the N.F.L.’s competitive standards.

The Erwins’ film presents a parable of how love and hard work can lead a hero down a prosperous, predetermined path. It’s a pleasant narrative, but it feels like the picture-book version of a more complicated story.

American Underdog Rated PG for suggested sexual situations. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. In theaters.

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‘American Underdog’ Review: Old-Fashioned Sports Biopic Hits the Sweet Spot as Family-Friendly Entertainment

Zachary Levi scores with a winningly sincere performance as NFL phenom Kurt Warner.

By Joe Leydon

Film Critic

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Arriving just in time to be an attractive four-quadrant option for family outings to the megaplexes during the holiday season — provided, of course, that the latest COVID surge doesn’t cause another round of movie theater shuttering — “American Underdog” is a thoroughly predictable yet hugely entertaining sports biopic that is bound to please almost anyone who’s not a sourball cynic or a snarky critic.

Much of its appeal stems from Zachary Levi ’s winningly sincere portrayal of Kurt Warner, the football phenom whose improbable ascent from grocery clerk to NFL superstar by way of a warmup in the Arena League is the sort of true-life story that seems almost too good to be true, even when it’s told as well as it is here.

But while Levi undeniably is the most valuable player, he likely wouldn’t score quite so impressively without a strong supporting-player team that includes Anna Paquin as Brenda, Kurt’s supportive girlfriend and eventual wife; Dennis Quaid as Dick Vermeil, the St. Louis Rams coach who takes a chance on Warner as a fellow underrated underdog; Bruce McGill as Jim Foster, the Arena League team owner and coach who cheerfully exploits Warner during the latter’s time in the wilderness; and Ser’Darius Blain as Mike Hudnutt, Warner’s best buddy and college roommate, who evidently makes some kind of movie history as the first Black man who has to teach a white dude the proper way to dance to country music.

Good thing Warner is a quick learner, because that makes him better able to woo Brenda, a divorced single mom and ex-Marine, once he charms her on the dance floor at her favorite country-and-western bar. That’s what it takes, because Brenda doesn’t know or care much about football, and is not impressed — at first, that is — by his accomplishments as a quarterback at the nearby University of Northern Iowa.

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NFL scouts are even less impressed, and Warner is passed over on draft day. Worse, when he does get a chance to try out for the Green Bay Packers, he’s sent packing after only two days in training camp. Warner finds it difficult if not impossible to keep his dreams of gridiron glory alive, and eventually puts them on the back burner to be a better provider for Brenda and her two children — one of whom, Zack (Hayden Zaller), is vision- and brain-impaired.

He is skeptical, if not downright insulting, when Foster tries to recruit him for the Arena League, which even Foster describes as “a circus” that is “football at the speed of NASCAR.” But hey, playing in the rough-and-tumble minor league is a good way to pay the bills. And yes, an even better way to get noticed, after years of post-collegiate obscurity, by the NFL.

“American Underdog” comes to us by way of Jon and Andrew Erwin, the sibling filmmakers who bill themselves as the Erwin Brothers, and specialize in well-crafted faith-based movies such as “Woodlawn,” “I Still Believe” and the 2018 sleeper hit “I Can Only Imagine.” They uncharacteristically but effectively underplay their religious themes here — indeed, audiences unfamiliar with the Erwins’ previous output might simply assume Warner is no more eager to implore and thank God than many if not most NFL players.

On the other hand, both Kurt and (especially) Brenda are matter-of-factly portrayed as religious folks. And it’s a bit amusing to see that no other 21st-century film dealing with professional sports has showcased so many athletes using such squeaky-clean language.

The real-life Kurt and Brenda Warner served as co-producers for “American Underdog,” which was adapted into a corny but credible scenario by scripters David Aaron Cohen, Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn from “All Things Possible,” the memoir Kurt Warner co-wrote with Michael Silver. So it’s probably safe to assume that as authorized biographies go, this one has a fair amount of hagiography mixed in with its history. But the mix goes down very easily and leaves you with a pleasant buzz.

Reviewed online, Houston, Dec. 23, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG.  Running time: 112 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release of a Kingdom Story Company production. Producers: Jon Erwin, Andrew Erwin, Daryl Lefever, Mark Ciardi, Kevin Downes. Executive producers: Kurt Warner, Brenda Warner, Tony Young, Jon Gun, Sean Deveraux.
• Crew: Directors: The Erwin Brothers. Screenplay: David Aaron Cohen, Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn, based on the book by Kurt Warner and Michael Silver. Camera: Kristopher Kimlin. Editor: Sean Albertson. Music: John Debney.
• With: Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, Dennis Quaid, Ser’Darius Blain, Hayden Zaller, Bruce McGill, Chance Kelly, Cindy Hogan, Adam Baldwin,  Danny Vinson, McKylin Rowe.

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Football biopic ‘American Underdog’ plays it safe, but effective

If a sports movie can be said to have a game plan, the Kurt Warner biopic “American Underdog” plays it safe, employing a strategy that’s more dink-and-dunk than go-big-or-go-home. Co-directed by siblings and faith-based filmmakers Andrew and John Erwin, this down-the-middle crowd pleaser ultimately makes for a rousing enough portrayal of against-the-odds fortitude, pad-crunching gridiron action and good old-fashioned Midwestern decency.

Warner’s Cinderella story is a familiar one: Undrafted after graduating from a second-tier college football program, the quarterback made ends meet stocking shelves in Iowa and slinging Arena Football League touchdowns before finally breaking into the NFL as a 26-year-old newcomer with the St. Louis Rams. Warner went on to take over for injured starter Trent Green for the 1999 season and conducted a prolific Rams offense billed as “the Greatest Show on Turf,” earning NFL MVP honors and Super Bowl glory.

From The Post archives: While the Rams go long, Titans come up short

“American Underdog” opens with a superfluous prologue — a young Kurt (Beau Hart) watches Super Bowl XIX, absorbing sports-as-life-lessons platitudes — before catching up with the signal caller during his redshirt senior season at the University of Northern Iowa. As the adult Kurt, “ Shazam! ” star Zachary Levi carries himself with casual confidence, effortless empathy and a superhero-chiseled physique that leave no question about whether he looks the part.

Well, maybe one: Levi, 41, plays Kurt from age 22 to 28, in a curious bit of casting. It doesn’t derail the movie, but it certainly distracts from it. That said, Levi seems at home under center in the football sequences, which fuse the actor’s athleticism with stellar stunt work and hard-hitting sound design to achieve a visceral effect. When it comes to the obligatory training montages, cinematographer Kristopher Kimlin makes the most of golden-hour light. (Texas and Oklahoma stand in for Iowa.)

The script, adapted by Jon Erwin, David Aaron Cohen and Jon Gunn from the book “ All Things Possible ” by Warner and Michael Silver, shrewdly splits the focus between the future Hall of Famer and his eventual wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin). A single mother of two, with a legally blind son (a heartstring-tugging Hayden Zaller), Brenda is burdened with a complicated past and a challenging present. Although the cutesy courtship between Kurt and Brenda borders on Hallmark-y, the reality of their respective struggles swiftly grounds the romance in something deeper.

While most viewers will guess how the sports side of the story ends, the traumatic, less-publicized turns of Brenda’s life make the rags-to-riches narrative all the more uplifting. Executive-produced by Kurt and Brenda Warner, “American Underdog” leans into the family’s Christian faith, with moments that teeter toward cliche without hijacking the larger drama.

Once Kurt arrives in the NFL, “American Underdog” fast-forwards through that historic 1999 season. It’s not the only stretch when the compressed timeline throws off the film’s pacing: Earlier, Kurt embarks on many months’ worth of momentous life events during what seems to be a single week between the AFL’s semifinal and title game. But some trimming of the protagonist’s life story — such as his European playing career and first NFL season as the Rams’ sparingly used third-stringer — is smart.

There are still plenty of Easter eggs for football obsessives. When Kurt heads to Packers camp as an undrafted free agent, it’s none other than Steve Mariucci (Brett Varvel), the future San Francisco 49ers coach — then the quarterbacks coach for Green Bay — who ruthlessly cuts the prospect loose. And Baltimore Ravens Hall of Famer Ray Lewis is uncannily impersonated by former NFL linebacker Nic Harris.

Unfortunately, Dennis Quaid’s scenery-chewing turn as beloved Rams Coach Dick Vermeil amounts to little more than an extended cameo. As Mike Martz, St. Louis’s initially incredulous offensive coordinator, Chance Kelly is given a little more with which to work.

If those names mean nothing to you, don’t sweat it. Even the football-illiterate can appreciate “Underdog,” which nimbly avoids inaccessibility and over-explaining, only occasionally losing sight of the intimate, feel-good story at its heart. This underdog may have been an all-time great in the air, but the movie defies expectation by, of all things, staying grounded.

PG.  At area theaters. Contains some strong language and mature thematic elements. 109 minutes.

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Review: Game plan for Kurt Warner movie ‘American Underdog’ is too simplistic

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The Los Angeles Times is committed to reviewing new theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic . Because moviegoing carries inherent risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials. We will continue to note the various ways readers can see each new film, including drive-in theaters in the Southland and VOD/streaming options when available.

The lesson of “ American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story ” is, apparently, “Hang in the pocket until you get killed.”

At least, that’s the movie’s muddled football-is-life metaphor. Early on, we see quarterback Warner’s coach at the University of Northern Iowa dismiss him because he responds to defenders getting close by running out of trouble and making great plays. Seriously. But it’s only when he learns to stay in the pocket and take a pounding (i.e., stop running away when things get tough) that Warner becomes a champion. Get it?

Warner’s is truly an underdog tale : The Hall of Famer is widely considered the greatest undrafted NFL player ever , with a Super Bowl ring (with the St. Louis Rams) and two league MVP awards. The film follows him from his final college season to his breakthrough with the Rams. Along the way, he meets the woman he would marry, Brenda Carney Meoni (played by Anna Paquin ); bonds with her young children; stocks grocery-store shelves to get by; settles for an Arena League deal; then finally sticks in the NFL. Those well-publicized parts of his story sound like fodder for a pretty good movie.

But what we get is “American Underdog.”

Directed by the Erwin Brothers (Jon and Andrew of “I Can Only Imagine” and “I Still Believe”) from a script by Jon Erwin, David Aaron Cohen and Jon Gunn, and based on the book “All Things Possible” by Warner and Michael Silver, the film is sanitized to the point of sterility. There’s little personality in the characters, including Zachary Levi ‘s stoically nice lead performance. ( Chance Kelly ‘s hilariously antagonistic Mike Martz is a rare exception; Dennis Quaid works in a hint of Dick Vermeil ‘s famous emotional availability.) Levi, who’s not far off Warner’s size but somehow looks much bigger , is clearly in his 40s, but neither he nor the filmmakers do anything to suggest the QB’s mid-20s beyond using hair dye. If his Warner has a flaw, it’s that he’s too good at everything.

So why keep repeating that old “stay in the pocket” thinking throughout the film? It might have made sense if we saw nascent QB Warner bailing too soon or making bad plays, but “Underdog” is one of those subject-blessed biopics in which the protagonist does no wrong.

Did Warner need to stop running from trouble in real life? Not according to the movie. Young Kurt promises he won’t abandon Brenda and her kids, and he doesn’t. To his mean coach, he says, “I’m not gonna quit, because that’s what leaders do.” The movie doesn’t bother to show us why Warner, whom we’re told did very well in high school, was so under-recruited in college. UNI is a lower division school — why was that the best he could do? What were those other problems from which he ran away?

And while taking hits — along with the resulting concussions and fumbles — is part of Warner’s story, so are his quick release and intelligence. Check out his “ Study Ball ” videos for a glimpse at his profound understanding of reading defenses. Perhaps the filmmakers felt explaining the traits that made Warner a special player would be too complicated, and that’s why they chose to depict the fuel for his rise as equal parts pluck and innate magic.

But there’s so much more to football — and life — than hanging in the pocket until linemen use you as a piñata.

'American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story'

Rated: PG for some language and thematic elements Running time: 1 hour, 52 minutes Playing: Starts Dec. 25 in general release

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‘American Underdog’ tells Kurt Warner’s story, from undrafted to unequaled, in wholesome fashion

As the qb and his tenacious wife, zachary levi and anna paquin do a fine job of selling the sometimes hokey material..

Brenda Warner (Anna Paquin) congratulates husband Kurt (Zachary Levi) in “American Underdog.”

Kurt Warner was in the TV booth for the Raiders/Browns game on Monday night, and when he was asked about his holiday plans he casually mentioned the opening of “my movie.” He has earned that humble-brag because his life story is absolutely made for the faith-based, Cinderella sports story “American Underdog,” which is so wholesome and golly-gee wonderful it makes “The Blind Side” look like “North Dallas Forty.”

Ah, but that’s OK, as Zachary Levi (the TV series “Chuck,” the DC movie “Shazam!”) as Kurt and Anna Paquin as his wife Brenda are terrific together and do a fine job of selling the sometimes hokey material, as the young couple overcomes a myriad of obstacles and setbacks by staying true to one another, keeping their faith and reciting lines that sound like an extended athletic apparel campaign, e.g., “If this is your dream, don’t give up on it!” and “This is my time. I know who I am, and I know why I’m here.” (Also, major props to Levi and Paquin for rocking the 1990s denim and hairstyles like they own ’em.)

Levi is 41 and Paquin is 39, but we buy them as twentysomethings who meet cute in the world’s most sanitized honky-tonk in Iowa. Kurt is an amiable lunk who is winding down his career as a talented but unheralded quarterback at small-school University of Northern Iowa, while Brenda is a single mother who got married while she was in the Marines but is now raising her two children, including a son who is legally blind and has brain damage, on her own. None of that deters Kurt from wooing Brenda, wearing down her defenses and marrying her.

Now comes the hard part: How are they going to make ends meet? Kurt went undrafted by the NFL, had a disastrous one-day tryout with the Green Bay Packers and is stocking shelves at a grocery store when he gets the pitch from Bruce McGill’s Jim Foster, the owner/coach of an Arena Football League team called the Iowa Barnstormers. Arena Football? “That’s a circus,” says Kurt, but hey, Jim will pay him $100 cash for every TD, so Arena Football it is.

In real life, Warner also had a stint overseas with the Amsterdam Admirals, but “American Underdog” cuts to the chase and goes straight to the moment when Kurt is signed by the St. Louis Rams in 1998 as a third-stringer before he finally gets his chance as a starter — and the rest is NFL history, as Warner became a league MVP, a Super Bowl MVP and eventually a Hall of Famer who is considered to be perhaps the greatest undrafted player of all time.

“American Underdog” lets the story tell itself, with some crackling good cameos by Chance Kelly as Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz, and Dennis Quaid (in his 14 th sports movie!) as head coach Dick Vermeil, who feels a kinship with Kurt because he, too, was away from the game for an extended period of time before getting the obligatory One Last Shot with the Rams.

Dennis Quaid has a great cameo as Warner’s coach at the St. Louis Rams, Dick Vermeil.

Levi has a physical presence that makes for a credible pro QB, and Paquin is a force as the indefatigable Brenda, who has weathered more tragedy and heartbreak than most and deserves happiness and success as much as Kurt. They found it together and they’re still together, with five more children, and “American Underdog” is a fitting family album for the Warners and solid, safe entertainment for the viewer.

AMERICAN UNDERDOG

"uplifting sports drama".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Discussion of previous adultery, boy is going blind from being dropped accidentally on his head by his father, money paid by coach of the Arena League for every touchdown, severe chastisement by coaches after games, parties with groupies, running out of fuel on lonely country road with future husband and wife and two children during the worst, coldest storm in years, but they all get to safety because of his efforts.

More Detail:

AMERICAN UNDERDOG is an uplifting, entertaining sports drama about the beloved and highly honored quarterback, Kurt Warner, and his wife and stepchildren. AMERICAN UNDERDOG is heartrending in spots, shows some of the challenges Warner went through and is intentionally very clean and uplifting, with strong Christian faith and values. In terms of plot development, it’s one of the Erwin Brothers’ best movies.

The movie opens with a young Kurt Warner watching a major football game and telling himself he wants to be as good a player as the most famous winning quarterback on TV. However, we’re told in a voiceover that millions of children play football at school and college, but only one percent make it into the American or National Football League.

Young Kurt practices in his backyard. When he gets to the University of Northern Idaho, he’s immediately recognized as a talented quarterback, but he refuses to trust the other players by staying in the pocket, which constantly angers the coach.

One night, his friend takes him to a cowboy bar where there’s line dancing. He sees and immediately is smitten by a woman named Brenda. He asks his friend later to teach him how to line dance. When he dances with Brenda, it’s clear they both like each other. However, in the parking lot, she tells him this isn’t going to work because she’s divorced with two children.

The next day, Kurt shows up with a rose and makes friends with her son, Zach, who is blind and limited because we learn later her ex-husband accidentally dropped him on his head. Brenda’s mother finds Kurt talking with Zach and immediately likes him. Brenda on the other hand tries to get rid of him, but Kurt keeps coming back.

Approaching graduation, Kurt’s goal is to be picked up in the draft by one of the major teams in one of the two football leagues. Eventually, he gets a call from the Green Bay Packers, but he only lasts one day.

When Brenda’s Christian father asks Kurt if he’s going to stick with her and provide for the family, he gets a job stocking shelves at a grocery store. He’s still depressed about his failure at getting drafted by a pro football team. However, the man who invented Arena football asks him to play in the league in Iowa. Kurt says Arena football is a circus, but the man says people like circuses. The coach leaves a wad of money for Kurt. He tells Brenda that you’ve gotta do what you gotta do until you do what you want to do.

During the coldest winter in a long time, with a miserable storm, Kurt decides to take Brenda and her children to his mother’s house because they couldn’t afford to pay the bills for heat at her house. They run out of gas in the highway, and he must walk several miles to beg for some gas. He gives whatever little money he has and promises to return the gas tank.

Reaching the end of his hope, Kurt joins the Arena League. He finds out it’s very different form regular football. He has to learn to move and pass faster. While he’s learning, the fans ridicule him. Eventually, he gets a call from the St. Louis Rams. The offensive coach thinks he’s too old, but the main coach says he came back after 14 years and believes Kurt will do the same.

Can Kurt make it in the big time? Will Kurt and Brenda get married? Will Kurt abandon her, like Brenda’s former husband abandoned her. Anyone who knows football knows the answer to these questions, but the movie makes it clear that Kurt goes from being an American underdog to getting a last chance to be a success.

AMERICAN UNDERDOG is a well-made, very well plotted sports drama with a strong personal element in the love affair between Brenda and Kurt Warner. The movie has many heartwarming moments, such as Kurt helping Zach and Brenda’s daughter, and Brenda and Kurt overcoming many obstacles. Kurt grows steadily throughout the movie, as does Zach. Zachary Levi of TANGLED and SHAZAM does a great job as Kurt Warner. Anna Paquin not only looks like the real Mrs. Warner, but she does a terrific job playing the role of Brenda. Some of the lesser roles are not as well realized, although some are. However, the main characters and main storyline are well developed.

AMERICAN UNDERDOG has some passionate kissing but no overt sex. There are after-football parties but no salacious behavior. There is the consumption of alcohol. There’s intense football action and violence which give power to the story, but it’s not too intense. The movie is only marred by a few low key obscenities and exclamations. However, these are often mumbled and quickly passed over.

Best of all, AMERICAN UNDERDOG has strong faith and values. It mentions Christianity, doing the right thing, having God as your Lord and Savior, praying for help at the lowest point, and much more, but there are no overt mentions of Jesus Christ. AMERICAN UNDERDOG is recommended for older children and up, especially professional football and Kurt Warner fans.

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Underdog Parent Guide

It's a dog eat dog world, so that's why an ordinary beagle with extraordinary superpowers decides to don a cape and tights and try to save the citizens of Capitol City (especially the four-legged ones). A live action remake of the old cartoon series, Underdog features the voice talents of Jason Lee and Amy Adams -- and a lot of CGI effects.

Release date August 2, 2007

Why is Underdog rated PG? The MPAA rated Underdog PG for rude humor, mild language and action.

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.

With the season’s big blockbusters out of the way, it’s time for the dog days of summer movie viewing options. So what better film is there to see than one about a crime-fighting canine based on a 1960s cartoon character.

In this live action reincarnation, Shoeshine (voice by Jason Lee) is a disgraced police trainee who is picked up off the streets by Cad (Patrick Warburton), the bumbling sidekick of an evil mad scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage). Working late into the night the Doctor is perfecting a serum that will put everyone in Capital City under his control. He sends Cad out to collect stray mutts on whom he tests his potion.

At first glance, Jack wants nothing to do with the little brown mutt. However, he changes his mind when Shoeshine lets him in on his secret, including his ability to talk to humans. Convinced that Shoeshine should assume a secret identity and become a flying guard dog, Jack helps the pooch make a crime-fighting costume.

Taking on the name Underdog , Shoeshine reluctantly becomes a four-legged superhero. Yet, while his intentions are good, the pooch is a rather clumsy law enforcer who causes almost as much property damage as the criminals do. Knocking over newsstands, breaking windows and triggering car crashes, the little beagle nonetheless manages to help numerous victims. But not everyone is happy about his help. Hidden away in a secret sewer-level lab, Dr. Barsinister and Cad are creating a tonic that will strip the pesky pup of all his powers.

Along with moments of peril faced by the hero, the film contains sporadic slapstick violence, some crude portrayals of bodily functions and veiled sexual comments between Shoeshine and his canine lady friend Polly (voice by Amy Adams).

However, if youÕre a dog lover that doesn’t expect more than an afternoon of cartoonish escapism, Underdog will likely meet all your tail-waggin’ expectations.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Underdog rating & content info.

Why is Underdog rated PG? Underdog is rated PG by the MPAA for rude humor, mild language and action.

A clumsy little beagle gets super powers after a mad scientist injects him with a secret potion. As a crime fighter he accidentally starts a fire, causes car crashes, repeatedly breaks windows, destroys property and disrupts businesses. Other slapstick violence includes a man being hit by a heavy ball and attacked by dogs. The hero is also seen stealing food. The script contains brief references to bodily functions and some mild sexual comments along with occasional name-calling.

Page last updated April 17, 2009

Underdog Parents' Guide

Why does Shoeshine want to have a family and be a normal pet? Why is he hesitant to become a superhero? How does he help Jack and his father overcome their differences?

Why does Jack’s father give up his position as a policeman? How does his decision affect his son? What does Jack fail to understand about his father’s choice?

The most recent home video release of Underdog movie is December 17, 2007. Here are some details…

Underdog flies onto DVD with a collection of bonus extras in its wake. These include bloopers, one of the cartoon episodes from the original Underdog, deleted scenes, a featurette ( Sit, Stay, Act: Diary of a Dog Actor ), and a music video ( Underdog Raps by Kyle Massey). Audio tracks are available in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English, French and Spanish), with subtitles in French and Spanish.

Related home video titles:

In Cats & Dogs , undercover canines posing as family pets do their part to protect mankind from evil felines. After a pampered, movie star pooch becomes lost, he is adopted as the mascot for a downtown fire station in Firehouse Dog .

Critics Have Watched The Underdoggs, And They Don't Have Kind Things To Say About Snoop Dogg’s Sports Comedy

The underdog story takes an R-rated turn.

When it comes to entertainment, there’s not a corner of the industry Snoop Dogg hasn’t touched. He’s recorded 19 studio albums, appeared in dozens of movies and TV series and has an adorable friendship with Martha Stewart . There’s really nothing Snoop could do that would surprise us (except that time he implied he’d stopped smoking weed ), and given his love for sports, the only shocking thing about The Underdoggs is that it’s taken this long to give him the lead role in a sports comedy. Critics have seen the movie, which can be streamed with an Amazon Prime subscription starting January 26, so let’s see what they’re saying.

Snoop Dogg plays Jaycen Jennings in The Underdoggs , a former NFL player who agrees to coach a youth football team while doing community service after a bad accident. It’s a premise we’ve seen before in epic underdog sports movies like The Bad News Bears and The Mighty Ducks , so how does the D-O-Double G fit into the genre? Nate Adams of The Only Critic grades the movie a D+, saying it lacks the charm and comedy of those that came before it. In the critic’s words: 

Nevermind the football part, this movie isn’t interested in showing how teams overcome adversity with good leadership and, frankly, it’s because Dogg doesn’t radiate the type of crass, leading man warmth of past cinematic coaches (Walter Matthau, Emilo Estavez, or Keanu Reeves) nor does the script, inspired by Dogg’s real life football league, allow him the platform to display genuine emotion. Most of the football sequences are spliced into speedy montages that fail to elevate the film’s stakes and it doesn’t help Dogg’s character, and the way he portrays it, seems lost on autopilot.

Alex Maidy of JoBlo rates it a “Below Average” 5 out of 10, saying that the film has the hallmarks of a classic sports movie, but all the cliches as well, and the result is too generic and profane to be inspirational. Maidy writes: 

There is certainly ambition to tell a feel-good story here, but it is stunted by the unnecessary profanity that earned this film its R rating. Snoop plays a lot of himself as Two Js, including unrelenting swearing and weed smoking. While the drugs and kids don’t mix on screen, the swearing loses its charm pretty quickly and cannot hide the weak script beneath it.

Chase Hutchinson of Collider gives The Underdogs a 3 out of 10, saying there are some funny moments, but the comedy is repetitive, the young football team’s characters are underdeveloped, and there’s nothing unique enough to make it memorable. Hutchinson continues: 

The Underdoggs is not bad enough to warrant some sort of scorching takedown, but that doesn’t mean it is any good either. Where other sports comedies were then imitated, this one is destined to be forgotten. By the time it arrives at the big climactic game, there is just nothing left in the tank. There is a reasonably funny musical moment where the team gets amped up for one final comeback, but it isn’t enough to make up for the tiresome way everything else plays out. It certainly is a throwback, but it not only stops far short of being a comedy touchdown, it barely feels like it brings anything new to the field.

Eric Henderson of Slant rates it 2 out of 4 stars, saying the project leans into its rude humor to heighten the standard-issue script, and if nothing else, it brings to light Snoop’s real-life contribution to the kids. Henderson points out: 

Is any of this fresh even by the standards of [director Charles Stone III’s] own filmography? Not really, but as the film’s closing title card points out, Snoop Dogg in real life has been mentoring youth football teams for nearly two decades now, molding hundreds and hundreds of underprivileged kids. If nothing else, The Underdoggs is a heartfelt chance to allow Snoop to take that bow.

Tessa Smith of Mama’s Geeky rates it just a 2.5 out of 5 but praises Snoop Dogg as the perfect casting choice, as well as the hilarious child actors. The movie delivers laugh-out-loud humor while simultaneously tugging the heartstrings, Smith says, writing: 

Overall, The Underdoggs is sure to surprise most viewers. That isn’t to say it doesn’t look fun, because it does. However, there is no way to prepare how this film is simultaneously hilarious, inspiring, and emotional. While parts of it are predictable, it has a few surprises in store for the audience. When it comes to the football aspect of the movie, it is easy to root for this team of underdogs. Suddenly viewers will find themselves invested in the outcome of the games. That said, The Underdoggs isn’t just for those that love a sports movie, there is so much heart weaved into the story that it truly has something for everyone.

The critics seem to agree The Underdoggs plays out like your typical underdog sports movie, and not even the R-rating is enough to make it memorable. However, if you like Snoop Dogg and this genre of film, this might be a can’t-miss option for you, as the above assessments all admitted to finding some amusement in the performances. You can catch this one starting Friday, January 26, on Amazon Prime Video, and be sure to check out our 2024 movie release calendar to see what else is coming soon. 

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Content Caution

In Theaters

• Jason Lee as the voice of Underdog/Shoeshine Boy; James Belushi as Dan Unger; Alex Neuberger as Jack Unger; Taylor Momsen as Molly; Peter Dinklage as Dr. Simon Barsinister; Patrick Warburton as Cad

Home Release Date

• Frederik Du Chau

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

Underdog’s beagle hero is a no-name average police dog used to sniff out bombs and other dangers—until his weak sniffer pinpoints … a ham in city hall. Laughed at by the other dogs, he finds himself wandering the streets. Then he gets nabbed to be used as the subject of DNA experiments in the lab of mad scientist Simon Barsinister.

The beagle doesn’t like the looks of a gigantic needle that the doc swings in his direction, however, and creates a real mess trying to escape. The lab is destroyed, but not before the dog is doused with experimental chemicals. Evil Barsinister is left scarred and limping from the destruction, but the canine runs away with superpowers, including the ability to speak and fly.

After a bumper-denting accident, cop-turned-security guard Dan Unger takes the pup in, names him Shoeshine Boy, and gives him to his son Jack. Father and son have been at odds with each other since Mom died and Dan hopes the new pet will help change things. When Jack learns that Shoeshine can talk and fly, things change indeed. Dog and boy become fast friends and start working on the creation of a new hero to fight crime in Capitol City. A superhero known as (drum roll, please) Underdog!

Positive Elements

When Shoeshine/Underdog realizes the extent of his heightened abilities, he decides—with Jack’s encouragement—to use his powers to help people. We see him thwart thieves, save school children in danger and even rescue a cat from a burning building. (Now that’s selflessness!) Eventually, Underdog gives up his powers to save Jack and Dan. And Dan is willing to put himself in danger to save the city from Barsinister. Underdog says that we each have a hero inside of us.

After Dan stops to pick up Shoeshine (he thinks the dog is injured), the beagle says, “I may not be able to smell a bomb, but I can smell a good person.” Shoeshine also encourages Jack to reconcile with his dad. It’s good advice. Dan is a good dad who works hard to connect with his son. And Jack eventually tells his dad why he’s been so angry, and the two bind each other’s emotional wounds.

Spiritual Elements

Barsinister’s henchman, Cad, says he thinks of his body as a “Buddhist temple.”

Sexual Content

Shoeshine speaks of “making his move” on cute-girl-dog-down-the-street Polly Purebred. He says, “I’ll use my front paws and drag my butt on the ground. Chicks dig that.” Polly pines over Underdog, saying, “Could you imagine me off leash with Underdog? There’s not a hose cold enough to break that up.”

She gets her wish, by the way. Underdog asks for a date, and he suggests that he and Polly should “be bad dogs.” When he comes home the next morning and Jack asks him where he’s been all night, he says, “I don’t sniff and tell.”

Shoeshine makes a joke about mistaking a boy dog for a girl dog. A big dog taunts Shoeshine by telling Polly to “give me a sniff” if she ever wants a real dog.

Violent Content

The same kind of violence found in the original Underdog cartoon appears here. But since it’s live-action, it looks and feels quite different. Seeing a rudimentary drawing of a guy smash into a lamppost doesn’t seem very extreme. But watching Underdog drag Cad at high speed through the city, smashing his face and body against and through nearly every obstacle imaginable … well, that hurts a bit.

Trashcan lids, metal ladders, a cannonball (to the groin), a giant sword, a shield and chunks of masonry all serve as weapons. Pretty much anyone who’s anybody crashes through a wall or window as some point. A burglar falls from the side of a building and crashes down onto the hood of a car. Barsinister is nearly crushed under falling/exploding equipment. A hired hoodlum gets smashed down on top of a glass jewelry case.

Additionally, Underdog’s propensity for “bad landings” produces any number of crash-bam-boom accidents. Furniture, windows, doors, phone booths and walls of buildings are all smashed or broken through by Underdog. An explosion is so strong it blows the canine hero into outer space. And once, it appears that he’s finally hit the ground too hard and has died. (He hasn’t really, of course.)

Crude or Profane Language

Characters exclaim “gosh,” “oh god,” “ye gods” and “holy moly!” Putdowns include “imbecile,” “freak,” “creep,” “idiot” and “runt.” It’s never actually said, of course, but a sly nod to the s-word also makes it into the script.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Barsinister is experimenting with a number of different chemicals and fluids. They spill on Shoeshine and transform him into Underdog. Later the scientist creates pills that contain Underdog’s super-powered DNA, takes one himself and feeds others to three large dogs. He also gives Underdog a pill to make him a normal beagle again.

Dan jams a syringe filled with some chemical into Barsinister’s shoulder. Cad sets up a bomb that will spread chemicals all across the city.

Other Negative Elements

Jack forges a doctor’s note to get out of school. (It’s implied that he does so often.) Underdog steals a hot dog and a doggie bag full of food. A mail carrier rudely gives Shoeshine lip (“You want a piece of this!?”).

Bodily function “humor” includes—but is certainly not limited to—conversations about licking “poop,” eating vomit and sniffing “butts.”

Whether or not I should have watched as many cartoons as I did when I was a kid is up for debate. What isn’t is that one of my favorite parts of the fall TV season was finding out the new Saturday morning lineup. Each weekend I’d plop down in front of the TV, pajama-clad, with a bowl of cereal in tow, for some cartoon relief from the week’s reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.

One of my perennial favorites was Underdog, which featured an accident-prone shoe-shining beagle who, with the aid of a power pill, would become an accident-prone superhero beagle. It was created to help promote the very General Mills cereal that I was busy shoveling into my yap. But it was also full of superhero satire that earned fans nationwide.

So with a nasal-sounding memory of, “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!” in my head, and a taste of Wheaties in my mouth, I went to see what Disney would do with the canine concept. This Underdog has shed his simple animated skin and become a live-action pup with CGI-aided mouth and paw movements. And it’s kind of fun. For the first five or six minutes.

Then you realize that Underdog has also lost just about everything that made his original version entertaining and endearing. What’s left is a lackluster flick about talking animals, featuring a pooper-scooper full of weak jokes—many of them about … poop. “If we’re going for a walk, you may want to bring a poop bag. I’ve got that special feeling,” this reimagined superbeagle informs his owner. “You’re like Superman … with a flea collar,” Jack shoots back.

When Underdog isn’t lapping its humor out of a white porcelain bowl, it’s chewing on plastic sentiment. The relational gap between Jack and his dad narrows because of their talking and flying pet, but their conflict really never feels like much more than an emotional squeaky toy tossed in for some Disney “heart.”

Firehouse Dog. The Shaggy Dog. Cats & Dogs. Good Boy! Quigley: An Angelic Tail. The recent movie past is liberally littered with disappointing doggie dishes. And now Underdog has been forced to join their ranks. So much for my sweet memories of Saturday mornings.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Finding the Money

An underdog group of economists is on a mission to instigate a paradigm shift by flipping our understanding of the national debt, and the nature of money, upside down. An underdog group of economists is on a mission to instigate a paradigm shift by flipping our understanding of the national debt, and the nature of money, upside down. An underdog group of economists is on a mission to instigate a paradigm shift by flipping our understanding of the national debt, and the nature of money, upside down.

• Maren Poitras
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‘The Idea of You’ review: Anne Hathaway-led romance drama pure escapism

Movie review.

Should you be in the mood for pure escapism, you can do a lot worse than “The Idea of You,” a beguiling little romantic drama about love, passion and spectacular hair. Much of this hair is on the impeccably poised head of Solène (Anne Hathaway), who lives a delightfully only-in-the-movies life: She’s an art gallery owner who wears expensively bohemian outfits, shares a perfectly curated Craftsman house with her equally well-tressed teen daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) and occasionally pouts prettily about the failings of her ex-husband, Daniel (Reid Scott), whose habitual flaking-out-at-the-last-minute requires Solène to unexpectedly take Izzy and her friends on a long-promised trip to Coachella. But wait! At Coachella, Solène does not get sunburn or COVID or temporary deafness, as you or I might; instead, she accidentally enters the private trailer of an extremely famous person (because Coachella is presumably full of such opportunities) and meets Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), a handsome boy-band singer who promptly falls madly in love with her.

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But, before you can say “ Notting Hill ” (and you may as well say it, as it’s kind of the same movie; just substitute Hathaway’s art gallery for Hugh Grant’s bookshop), problems arise: namely that Solène is 40 (though looks 28) and Hayes is 24 (though looks 28), and that because of Hayes’ extreme famousness people say nasty cougar-related things about them on the internet. “You’re you and I’m me and we just don’t fit,” Solène says to Hayes, like every person in every rom-com ever, though it’s clear to us that the two have raging chemistry and a sweet rapport. Will these crazy kids work things out, to enjoy a happy life of passionate kisses and excellent-looking room-service BLTs in fancy hotels? Well, you’ve seen “Notting Hill.” (If you haven’t, do; it’s pretty good, too.)

Director Michael Showalter, who wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Westfeldt (whose comedic touch is recognizable in many funny throwaway lines) based on Robinne Lee’s novel, deftly manages the most important thing in this sort of movie: We fall in love with this couple, just a bit, and want them to be together. And Hathaway and Galitzine make a charmer of a pair. He’s sweetly dazzled by her; she’s warier, yet Hathaway lets us see this woman, who’s been burned before, gathering herself to jump off love’s diving board into unknown waters. It’s a lovely performance, in a career full of them: Hathaway has an uncanny way of bringing a world of knowing, a sense of rich past stories, into her dusky voice and bright smile. Solène may live a movie-perfect life, but Hathaway makes her real.

With Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin, Annie Mumolo, Reid Scott. Directed by Michael Showalter, from a screenplay by Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt, based on a novel by Robinne Lee. 115 minutes. Rated R for some language and sexual content. Streams May 2 on Prime Video.

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The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

Liam Neeson thriller proves to be huge hit on Netflix despite critics' reviews

L iam Neeson's most recent movie has just landed on Netflix for viewers in the UK and Ireland and it is a big hit. In the Land of Saints and Sinners is set in Ireland and stars a host of familiar Irish faces, including Kerry Condon , Colm Mean, and Ciaran Hinds .

The film follows former assassin Finbar Murphy, played by Neeson , who lives a quiet life in a rural seaside Irish village. Finbar hopes to leave his troubled past behind him and stay far away from The Troubles in 1970s Ireland.

However, he soon discovers that a member of the newly arrived group of sketchy men has been abusing a local girl and he is drawn into a vicious game of cat and mouse.

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He must choose whether or not he wants to protect his friends and neighbors and expose his secret identity.

Despite many negative reviews upon its initial release, the film has shot up the Netflix charts. It first premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and is now available for many to watch at home.

The film was met with mixed reviews when it was first released. Many reviews criticized it for its portrayal of Irish stereotypes .

The Hollywood Reporter's review of the film reads: "The paddywhackery’s as thick as the Oirish brogues and flavorful caricatures in Robert Lorenz’s In the Land of Saints & Sinners.

"Not since the merry blarney of Wild Mountain Thyme has a movie leaned so hard into Emerald Isle stereotypes, which makes it remarkable that Liam Neeson as a pipe-smoking, Dostoevsky-reading assassin manages to play it straight."

Meanwhile, Screen Daily said: "For some, that film was a little too bleak and the humor a bit too black: The Land Of Saints And Sinners will be the more palatable Irish thriller for those in that market. And Neeson looks as strong as ever in the ‘big lad’ role: he’s 71, and signs are that he will just keep on sinning – as long as there is a child in distress."

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Despite this, it currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81 percent and an audience score of 75 percent. In the Land of Saints and Sinners is available to watch in the US on Amazon Prime Video but for a rental price of $19.99.

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .

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Underdog Reviews

Underdog may seem like a story with niche appeal, but the result will surely resonate with all the underdogs out there.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 25, 2023

'The Long Game' Review: Dennis Quaid & Jay Hernandez Miss the Mark in an Unsurprising Sports Story

There are no no ifs, ands, or putts about it, this take on the true story of a golf team falls flat.

This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

The Big Picture

• The Long Game is a standard underdog sports story based on Mexican-American teens winning a golf competition in the 1950s.
• The film struggles to give its multiple themes, like assimilation, racism, and marginalized men taking back respect, their full due.
• While the performances are decent, the movie lacks depth, has a heavy-handed narrative, and doesn't fulfill its potential.

When it comes to inspiring stories, nothing really tops an underdog sports narrative . The plucky team with aspirations for greatness. The odds are always stacked against them, but with one determined coach and a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps mentality, the team is able to overcome all that they are up against and get the victory and respect they deserve. In many ways, The Long Game from director Julio Quintana , who also penned the script alongside Jennifer C. Statson and Paco Farias , is a standard issue underdog story.

The Long Game (2024)

In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert.

Based on the real life story about a group of Mexican-American teenagers who win a golf competition during the 1950s , the set-up is clean cut. JB Peña ( Jay Hernandez ) moves to a small town in Texas where he becomes a superintendent of a Mexican-American high school. JB is a big golf fanatic and has dreams of joining the Del Rio Country Club, an exclusive club that serves an all-white clientele. Even though he has the help of his fellow veteran Frank Mitchell ( Dennis Quaid ), the locals aren't ready or willing to accept a Mexican member into their club.

Upset at the rejection, JB then gathers a group of teenagers from his school, who all work as caddies at the country club, to form their own golf team. With Frank's help, a golf aficionado himself, JB gets the kids in shape for competition where they predictably must face off against prejudice and open racism. And while the book this film is based on, Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia , certainly documents an impressive story of an underdog overcoming odds, the film doesn't quite reach the heights it's trying to.

'The Long Game' Is an Unfocused Sports Drama

The Long Game lacks a central thesis . Is the story about JB overcoming his desire to assimilate into white culture and embracing his community? Is it about the young Joe Trevino ( Julian Works ) finding a place in the world where he can both indulge in a white-dominated sport like golf but also stay true to his heritage? Or is it about this group of marginalized men taking back the respect they deserve in a town where people treat them as second-class citizens? The problem is it is all of that and more. It juggles too many things and ends up dropping the ball.

The way the movie tackles race and the complicated dynamics between Mexican-Americans and white Americans is often heavy-handed. The film is clearly intent on making the story an identity story as well, but it struggles to find balance and nuance along the way. Slights and threats are taken seriously one moment and then forgotten the next. Insults and slurs are hurled around with no real consequences. Clunky tropes create an almost painfully predictable finale , which is disappointing because the film is not without its talent.

While Quaid feels like he's phoning it in sometimes, Hernandez shines as a vet struggling with PTSD and a man who is determined to earn respect in a world that sometimes won't even acknowledge him. Works' Joe is easily the most complex character of the five players, though his story suffers when a romantic plot is written in with neither enough material to be interesting nor enough screen time to feel earned. His relationship with his father ( Jimmy Gonzalez ) is an interesting foil to his growing bond with JB, though that is never explored.

Side Characters Are Too Shallow in 'The Long Game'

Cheech Marin comes in as Pollo, the groundskeeper at the club, and though he is always a joy to watch on screen, his character is about as hammy as they come . As is Brett Cullen 's villain, a character so cookie cutter that it's hard to even recall his name. He's simply there to be the bad, racist white man. Oscar Nuñez plays the school principal, and though his role is small, he's enjoyable to watch. Again there are unexplored pockets of his relationship with the newly hired JB that could have been intriguing to explore.

The problem is, when you have a story with this many layers, not only tackling socioeconomic barriers, but racial barriers, and the complexities of a post-war America, it's far too easy to get lost in whatever catches your eye . There's even a moment when the boys cross the border to Mexico and they must face the difficult reality that even in a place they dub "the motherland" they are viewed as outsiders, not Mexican but American. The Long Game isn't awful, it's perfectly serviceable as a sports flick about an inspiring all-American team, but that's all that it is: it's fine. There's little to write home about and it feels like a case of unfulfilled potential.

• Jay Hernandez gives a standout performance, bringing more nuance to his role of a man struggling with PTSD.
• The story on which the film is based in an impressive and engaging one that, at times, is perfectly serviceable.
• The film tries to take on too many different themes and isn't able to do any of them the full justice they deserve.
• Many of the side characters are simply too shallow to leave an impact and stand out in all the wrong ways.
• The overall telling is fine at best, falling far short of its potential.

The Long Game is now available to stream on VOD in the U.S.

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'The Fall Guy' review: Ryan Gosling brings his A game as a lovestruck stuntman

In “Barbie,” Ryan Gosling ’s job is Beach. In “ The Fall Guy, ” it’s Stunt and he’s pretty great at his gig.

Gosling nicely follows up his Oscar-nominated Ken turn as an embattled Everyman who falls 12 stories, gets thrown through glass and pulls off an epic car jump, among other death-defying moments in the breezily delightful “Fall Guy” (★★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday).

Director David Leitch, former stunt double for a fella named Brad Pitt, revamps the 1980s Lee Majors TV show as an action-comedy ode to the stunt performers who never get their due, while Gosling and Emily Blunt dazzle as likable exes who reconnect amid gonzo circumstances.

"I'm not the hero of this story. I'm just the stunt guy," says Colt Seavers (Gosling) in voiceover as we first meet him. Colt is considered Hollywood's best stuntman, doubling for egotistical A-lister Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and fostering a flirty relationship with camera operator Jody Moreno (Blunt). However, a stunt goes accidentally awry in his latest movie, breaking his back as well as disrupting his love life, mental health and entire status quo.

'The Fall Guy': Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt talk 'epic' 'I'm Just Ken' Oscars performance

A year later, down on his luck and confidence still shaken, Colt is parking cars as a valet at a burrito joint when he gets a call from producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham). Jody, now an on-the-rise director, needs him in Sydney to work on her first huge sci-fi epic “Metalstorm.” He gets there and after a gnarly cannon roll in a stunt car where he takes out a camera, Colt learns that not only did Jody not ask for him, she doesn’t want him around at all. 

Still, the old spark's there and it turns out she does really need him: Tom has befriended some shady dudes and gone missing, and Gail tasks Colt to both keep Tom's disappearance a secret and also find the dude. Alongside stunt coordinator and pal Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), Colt uncovers a criminal conspiracy and in the process goes undercover as Tom in a nightclub (wearing some Ken-esque shades and cool coat), gets so high he sees unicorns and teams up with a dog that only takes commands in French.

Colt is put through the physical ringer during his twisty hero's journey, and it’s impossible not to love him through every punch, kick, stab and dangerous feat because of Gosling’s offbeat charisma. Before “Barbie,” he showed his considerable comedic talents in “The Nice Guys” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” yet marries them well here with a healthy amount of vulnerable masculinity and sublime nuance. With him, a thumbs-up – the stuntman’s go-to signal that everything’s OK – is also a way for Colt to try and hide his sensitivities.

Like Leitch’s other movies, from “Bullet Train” to “Atomic Blonde,” “Fall Guy” is filled with fights, explosions and assorted derring-do for Colt to (barely) live through. One mayhem-filled car chase scene has Gosling’s character tussling with a goon on an out-of-control trailer interspersed with Blunt singing Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds.” (It's essentially a two-hour argument for a stunt Oscar category.) The movie sports a definite musical heart, with an amusing scene between Jody and a weepy Colt set to the Taylor Swift lovelorn jam “All Too Well,” and is also interestingly timely considering a plot point about deep fake technology.

The one downside with this sort of stunt spectacular is Colt’s mission to find the narcissistic Tom and getting into hazardous shenanigans takes away from his romantic stuff with Blunt. Playful and quick with the zingers, their characters awkwardly rekindle their romance – in one sequence, she spills all sorts of tea about their past relationship in front of their crew – and you miss them when they're not together.

For ’80s kids, Majors was the “Fall Guy” – and Leitch’s movie pays tribute in multiple ways to the show and its scrappy spirit – but Gosling makes for a fabulous heir apparent. He’s not just Ken. He’s also Colt, and Gosling’s not done showing us the true extent of his talents.