Clichés fly in sincere, moving underdog story

Audiences hungry to get their fix of sports movie clichés won't be disappointed by this sincere and winning tale based on the true story of the first female quarterback in the history of the Pop Warner games.

Her name is Jasmine Plummer. She's 11 and lives in small-town Minden. (The real Jasmine hails from Harvey, Ill.) Jasmine is played by Keke Palmer, the charismatic young star of "Akeelah and the Bee." (She hails from downstate Robbins, about 20 miles from Chicago.) She reportedly trained for six weeks, learning how to convincingly pull off a natural sports athlete.

As "Longshots" begins, Jasmine gets heckled by her classmates, especially the boys, for being a quiet bookworm. The white girls at her middle school in small-town Minden tease her, and give her a plunger to clean the toilets, since her name is Plummer.

Meanwhile, Jasmine's Uncle Curtis (played by rapper/actor Ice Cube, who also produced this film), spends his time drinking beer covered in a paper sack as he stews over life's unfairness. A once-promising local football star, Curtis had his dreams crushed by an accident that robbed him of his mobility.

Now a constantly angry bum, he rebels when his sister Claire (Tasha Smith) asks him to watch Jasmine after school until she can get home from her job. Claire is desperate and plays the family relative card. Reluctantly, Uncle Curtis accepts the responsibility to watch Jasmine, but the young girl clearly doesn't like him.

Besides, he stinks.

As we discover, Jasmine's relationship with Claire has been strained ever since her daddy left home five years earlier and never came back. Jasmine keeps Dad's watch on her wrist at all times, hoping he'll return and be the father she's dreamed of.

So, here we have a little girl with untapped athletic potential and a daddy fixation, plus a resentful former football jock who hates the world. Will they ever find common ground?

"The Longshots" could easily have become a convictionless retread of other mediocre sports dramas. Actually, in many ways it is, right down to speeches about the importance of "heart" from Uncle Curtis and Coach Fisher (Matt Craven), who sound as if they're about to break into a rendition of "You Gotta Have Heart" from the musical "Damn Yankees."

We know that Uncle Curtis will eventually befriend Jasmine, and through his guidance, she will discover the natural quarterback within. Under the direction of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, "Longshots" may not feel like new material, but it maintains an honesty and sincerity lacking in many similar stories.

Palmer commands the screen with her brooding, slow-to-warm presence, and she makes you feel as if she's earned her shot as the team's quarterback through earnest practice sessions and natural abilities.

Ice Cube is equally up to playing Uncle Curtis with begrudging compassion, never straying beyond the emotional limits of both the role and performer.

And if clichés fill the air more than footballs in "The Longshots," so what? It's a classic formula underdog sports drama that knows exactly what it wants to do and has no pretense about cinematic greatness. It aims to be a simple, direct, feel-good film affirming that kids can be much more than they think they ever can.

And they are.

"The Longshots"

2½ stars (out of four)

Starring: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Matt Craven, Garrett Morris, Tasha Smith

Directed by: Fred Durst

Other: An MGM release. Rated PG. 109 minutes