Review
The Underdoggs (Sports, Comedy) (2024)
Director: Charles Stone III
Writer: Isaac Schamis, Danny Segal
Stars: Snoop Dogg, Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps, George Lopez
Once a major football star, since relegated to a faded memory and laughing stock as his poor decisions and an inflated ego put him in a gilded cage of his own making. Determined to change public perception, he inserts himself as the coach of a youth team, pushing them to some measure of success and raising his own stock in the meantime.
Initially pitched by Snoop Dogg and Constance Schwartz-Morini, an interest took Charles Stone III to direct this comedy sports feature centred around a washed-up American Football star turning his life around. Intended to have a theatre release, it was eventually released straight-to-video due to box office estimates. It has been produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Khalabo Ink Society, Death Row Pictures, SMAC Productions, and the Panoramic Media Company while being distributed by Amazon MGM Studios.
Achieving major success in American Football during the heyday of his career, Jaycen ‘’Two-J’s’’ Jennings is now relegated to a has-been, ridiculed for his declining skills later in his career combined with some poor life decisions and attitude issues. After another outburst leading to a sudden accident, he unintentionally lands back in his old neighbourhood of Long Beach, noticing an opportunity to coach an unruly and floundering pee-wee team—reassuring his own popularity and vicariously experiencing success again.
Reminiscent of R-rated sports comedies of yonder years, ‘’The Underdoggs’’ may be inspired by the football coaching career Snoop Dogg picked up in real life. Straight-forward and adult-oriented despite being focused on a pee wee team and taking notes from ‘’The Mighty Ducks’’ in more ways than one.
Being quite upfront in its intentions, this comedy sports flick provides harsh language in exorbitant amounts, fronting rapper and American sports enthusiast Snoop Dogg in the leading role. ‘’The Underdoggs’’ plays like a parody of a parody, creating a wild situation within an archetypal script. Much focus lies on the D.O Double G himself and a small draft of the foul-mouthed children as bonds are formed; aside the youngsters is Sumpter’s Cherise parenting one of the kids, being a mother figure of sorts to the rest, matching Snoop Dogg’s bravado proficiently as he tries to rekindle an old flame serving a romantic sub-plot which wasn’t truly needed but doesn’t take anything away either.
Claims made to break the mould it is to be expected of ‘’The Underdoggs’’ to follow and merely adapt examples set, not necessarily in a bad way. Having seen a myriad of underdog sports features, the aptly-named depiction provides a refresher course and confidently so. With clear parallels of our own universe, hap-dashingly making references to pop culture, actors and films, despite Snoop Dogg being just a notable admission with the team renamed to The Underdoggs with two G’s as a reminder of who is on our screens. Supplementary roles such as Epps’ Kareem and Lopez’s Coach Feis were highlights, in the former’s case, due to over-exaggerated quick-witted humour being the comic relief in an already comedy-oriented film—trying his darndest to reunite with his childhood friend, who had gotten rich in the meantime.
With knowledge of Snoop Dogg’s coaching career as seen in Netflix’s Docu-series ‘’Coach Snoop’’, this is a decent throwback sort-film. While the excessive language might result in mixed reactions, teens and young adults, and perhaps those still children at heart, will get a kick out of it. I’d say it moves along too quickly at times, cramming as much in the shortest span, which harms the pacing and progression. It is commendable to see actual acted segments of sports, which can be overlooked in other such films.
Verdict
Tempted to rate it a 4,20; it blazes stronger than that.
6,5
