Nelly's got that slave feet?!

Rating: 6/10 (12 June 2005)

I just saw it and thought it was pretty good. In fact, there was a couple of times I laughed out loud and that is rare for me nowadays. I did not go to see the movie for the story (it a remake for goodness sakes) but I did go for some laughs. The movie was not afraid to make racism seem funny (silly)...sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying (or worse). While the audience in the theater gasped at some of the racial jokes I was usually smiling or laughing.
Although this was made by Hollywood I felt that it nearly represented some of the tensions that exist within the prison walls, between inmates and inmates, inmates and guards, based on race and power...but it was not that deep and did not dwell too long on these issues. There was plenty of homo erotic jokes, as well, and this was expected.
I thought Nelly played a surprisingly layered character for the brief time he is on screen. I was really feeling the scene in the library with him, the guards and some of the inmates/peers. I don't even like Nelly's music but I liked him in this film.
Also, there are some cool action shots and the football sequences are surprisingly realistic. When one of the characters gets killed (no real spoilers here) about half way through, the movie actually stumbles down the stretch without him.
Overall, I think The Longest Yard is one of the better Sandler movies. It has something for everyone and the lack of political correctness of many of the quips/jokes was at times refreshing and very funny.