Spiel ohne Regeln

A personal favorite and one of the more decent remakes. The characters are well cast and at least decently acted, love the decision to give Burt such a big part. There's more than a few laughs and some fun (if not legal) football moments.

I got to see the same sneak preview movie at the theatre last week.

With all the TV advertising and trailers at the movies I thought the film was coming out soon, but I just checked and they said it won't hit the Cineplex until May 27th!

Prediction? It will the box office winner on Memorial Day weekend. Perfect time to come out with a football picture because all the NFL fans are fed up with Arena football and thirsty for any real football.

Well, what can I say about the movie? Loved it! Very entertaining. You could get into the characters, no matter how despicable they were and you were rooting for them. Of course the story is an old one. They filmed it in 1974 with Burt Reynolds and it is about prisoners playing a football game against the guards. It's a comedy, but boy it is Violent with a capital V.

It is a real macho man movie and everyone is going to love it. Adam Sandler gets beat up or beat down a lot in the movie, they give the best lines and jokes to Chris Rock and there will be a few other Saturday Night Live people you will recognize in it. There are a lot of scenes of cheap shots and unsportsmanlike conduct. Very physical, very brutal. Some scenes will make you cringe. You will feel their pain. Not blood and guts with stabbings or shootings, but extreme football hurts and hits.

Yes it's a comedy and yes it's funny, but also ultra violent, did I mention that already? Now I know why I gave up on football in high school and focused more on Cross Country and Track & Field...because I realized I would live longer if I competed in a sport where no one is trying to injury me or knock you out of competition.

A great film? No, but people will feel they got their money's worth and yes, it will be popular on DVD with outtakes and behind the scenes footage. I can't see it getting a PG-13 rating, not with all the language and use of the "N" word by the cookie cutter, steroid popping sadistic guards.

I'm going to start off by admitting that I had no interest in this movie whatsoever. I only saw it because I was dragged. Was it as bad as I thought? Not at all. It was way better than I expected it to be. We all know those mindless comedies that barely have a plot, cheap dialogue and jokes, and are just filled with stupidities galore. I thought this was one of them. I was wrong. This remake had a pretty good storyline and a few laughable jokes and moments. I usually don't laugh out loud at movies, but I did find myself doing so three or four times here. So that takes care of the Funniness Factor. The story is easy to get involved in--you want to see the prisoners kick the guards' butts in football. It is a well played story and fun to watch. Sandler is not one of my favorite actors, but I have to give him his props because I am starting to see that he usually stars in movies that are at least remotely funny and that have a pretty decent plot. But the main thing is that his characters usually act the same. I would get into the slight lack of character development, but I'm sure you don't care to read about that. You only wish to know if this movie is funny or not and if it's worth watching! Well, yes the movie has its moments and it's good to watch, especially if you like football or are a Sandler fan. This has its good kicks and it is near a touchdown in the comedy category. So if you want to have a good time and relax to some entertainment, you can watch this

6.6/10 Stars

I too got to see a free-sneak peak of this film in NYC and I'll tell you one thing . . there were no sleepers in the cinema! A very mixed crowd from race to ages here and everyone seemed to be having a great time . . even the teenager who sat behind me who reminded me of every actor when he appeared on the screen .. like Nelly. I haven't had this much fun in the theater in quite awhile. No, it's not a super serious film, but if you like football and the good feeling of revenge you'll love this film. Lots of violent blows from the guards and a little racism, but nothing too "out of the ordinary" . . some great one-liners from Chris Rock's character. A definite #1 film for Memorial Day weekend when it opens. I can see this film bringing in some good dough this summer.

In 1994, Peter Segal made his feature film directorial debut with NAKED GUN 33 1/3: THE FINAL INSULT, the hilarious concluding chapter of the NAKED GUN series. His follow-up was the even funnier TOMMY BOY in 1995, one of the best comedies of the 1990s. His next film, MY FELLOW Americans, was pretty funny but failed to generate the same number of laughs as his two previous films. Still, it seemed like Segal was destined to become one of the next great comedy directors. That is until 2000's NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, a lame rehash of the 1996 remake. Since then, he's continued to direct pretty mediocre comedies like ANGER MANAGEMENT and 50 FIRST DATES so I had low expectations when I heard he was to direct the THE LONGEST YARD. Luckily, THE LONGEST YARD, his latest movie, is his best film since TOMMY BOY thanks to Segal's great comedic direction. In addition to handling the comedy well, he also does a fantastic job with the football scenes. In fact, I think it is safe to say that because of Segal's direction, THE LONGEST YARD is the best football film of the 2000s so far.

Anybody that knows me knows that if there is one type of movie I hate, it's remakes. There is no reason for them, making them pointless. However, for whatever reason, I actually enjoyed this one. From the great opening shot of a beautiful girl swimming in a pool to the very last shot of Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) getting Gatorade poured all over him, I found myself having a ball. It's just an all around fun film. Everyone does a great job with their roles (especially Sandler and Rock) and for an almost two hour movie, THE LONGEST YARD is fast-paced.

Still, THE LONGEST YARD has its fair share of problems. The rap sound track doesn't seem to fit the picture very well, some of the jokes fall pretty flat(i.e. most of the gay jokes), and there's not nearly as much character development as there was in the original. Despite these flaws, THE LONGEST YARD remains one of the highlights of 2005. Recommended.