A good movie to watch with your football viewing buddies.

Rating: 7/10 (8 October 2005)

Art-house snob or Bruckheimer bandwagoneer, you see a movie like this and know you are just being facetious to make cracks about how it won't be as good as the original. I'm not the biggest Adam Sandler fan and some of his movies I just outright loathe. Somehow I end up buying and watching most of them again and again. (Eight Crazy Nights and 50 First Dates notwithstanding, even then, I can't help but think of Sean Astin's antics in that movie.) Check the director and the lead role credits and your expectations for a shot-for-shot remake should be in the toilet, but who really wants that anyway? This movie is fun. Burt Reynolds adds to the cool cred and I get the impression that he had a lot of fun making it, rather than just seeing a quick way to collect a check.
An admirable job was done; shoving a crowbar between The Waterboy and The Longest Yard, though there are a few funny references to the former. It was a gamble to take a somewhat redundant stab at Sandler's somewhat niche (but according to his box office reciepts, not that niche) market, but it plays out well and the humor is different now that Adam Sandler is the cool guy on the team rather than the team dork.