Director: Charles Stone III
Writers: Isaac Schamis, Constance Schwartz-Morini, Danny Segal
Stars: Snoop Dogg, Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps
Synopsis: Jaycen “Two Js” Jennings is a washed-up ex-professional football star who has hit rock bottom. When Jaycen is sentenced to community service coaching an unruly pee-wee football team, he sees it as an opportunity to turn his life around.
Streaming services are rapidly recycling movies to keep up with the streaming wars. Yes, the studio system and theatrical releases experience the same thing. However, the process is becoming commonplace due to its inherent competitive nature. The goal is to target a younger generation with classic stories as old as time. Now, telling stories from a different point of view is part of this. Yet, The Underdoggs exemplifies an exercise in AI plagiarism that lacks thought or care in the process or final product.
The film follows Jaycen Jennings (legendary rapper and actor Snoop Dogg), a former NFL superstar and self-proclaimed “top five” wide receiver of all time. After he retired early for slapping the you-know-what out of a tiny white kid who was heckling him, Jennings has fallen on hard times. He spends most days in his mansion tweeting at loudmouths like Skip Bayless, Jim Rome, and Stephen A. Smith-type sports show hosts (played by Chip Collins) because they’re low-hanging fruit.
After spending most of the day trying to get a hold of his agent, who won’t return his calls, he shows up at the office. After they turn him away, he berates a working man employed as a valet. Then, tight end Tony Gonzalez takes exception to Jennings’s treatment of the man. He tells the Hall of Famer to go, you know what, and talk to him when he gets a Super Bowl ring. He then drives his sports car into oncoming traffic and rolls the vehicle, becoming GIFs, memes, and daytime fodder for sportscasters everywhere.
Charles Stone III (Mr. 3000) directed The Underdoggs, working with a script from Grown-ish scribes Isaac Schamis and Danny Segal (based on a pitch by Constance Schwartz-Morini and Snoop Dogg himself, which means they likely didn’t do much). Their film rehashes almost any coming-of-age plus arrested development comedy we see when a man-child not only teaches kids about life – wait for that big lump in your throat – but Goddmit, they teach him! Of course, nothing as manipulative happens here in the sophomoric comedy, but it’s implied, and the sentiment falls short of being earned.
Of course, it’s not that serious. Think of Hardball, The Mighty Ducks, and The Bad News Bears with lots of weed, bad manners, and even worse grammar. The script falls into the same cliche of taking a man who should never be around children to begin with and sentencing him to community service to avoid jail time. What’s his punishment? Teaching a bunch of foul-mouthed adolescents how the game is played. I can’t imagine any judge signing off on something so bizarre after at least anger management and drug counseling, but this is the world of make-believe, where child welfare and safety are never a matter of importance for those in charge of that sacred responsibility.
Most of The Underdoggs’ jokes fly as wide as a Buffalo Bills placekicker. When they do work, they are more amusing, yet forgettable. Mike Epps does have some buddy chemistry with Snoop. Schultz’s Chip Collins makes borderline racist comments that are insensitive. (I’m guessing the character’s show is on Fox News.) The issue is that they are played for laughs, so the ignorant won’t know better. I’ll admit, the one joke that made me chuckle was Jenning’s driving around with a podcast microphone hanging from the ceiling of his SUV for live podcasting to his fans.
The film is predicated on your love for the film’s star. If only Snoop Dogg had chemistry with his love interest, played by the talented Tika Sumpter, who has little to do here but get angry at anything said by the coach or her child. Perhaps, the biggest issue you can have with The Underdoggs is how uneven it can be, considering there is some positive messaging.
There are moments when the main character misbehaves, yelling at children and grabbing their masks like no one should with anyone younger than a teenager. However, there are teachable moments for kids, between all the lewd comments and cursing, where Jennings will calmly and thoughtfully teach them how to be respectful teammates in their community. This is why it’s important to have films, especially in genre cinema, for populations with characters that can be relatable outside white middle-class America.
I would love to say something snarky about The Underdoggs. Like, “Ultimately, the best advice this film can teach is what Snoop Dogg’s Jennings says: You must have a short memory. I assume the rapper forgot he signed up for this movie because of a smoke-filled memory. Please excuse me while I head down to the local cannabis dispensary while I try to wipe The Underdoggs from my memory.” However, it has its heart in the right place. That’s because it’s not bad, and it’s okay to enjoy the movie based on some of the positive attributes above.
You can, however, without guilt, wish the jokes were consistent and less repetitive, and the themes would come together for a more cohesive narrative.
