MOVIE REVIEW: 'Uncle Drew' hard to resist

Even nonactor ballplayers manage to make a fun film

Shaquille O’Neal is the kung fu-“Big Fella” in the surprising Uncle Drew, a basketball movie based on a series of Internet skits that went viral.
Shaquille O’Neal is the kung fu-“Big Fella” in the surprising Uncle Drew, a basketball movie based on a series of Internet skits that went viral.

To state the obvious, this film -- a feature-length adaptation of a freaking Pepsi ad! -- would seem to have a lot working against it out the gate.

Not only is the film's premise based on a series of largely viral ads Pepsi started running a few years ago, featuring now-Celtics' guard Kyrie Irving under a huge amount of old-age makeup; the film also stars a bunch of other former NBA players (and a current one), forced to act in front of a camera. Also, it has Shaquille O'Neal; but honestly, that's the least of its dangers.

Uncle Drew

83 Cast: Kyrie Irving, Lil Rel Howery, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie, Erica Ash, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Aaron Gordon

Director: Charles Stone III

Rating: PG-13, for suggestive material, language and brief nudity

Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Here's the thing, though: As much as the ads were there to sell sugared water, there was indeed something killer in the premise. There's a reason the Britain's Got Talent clip featuring the debut of Susan Boyle has almost 330 million views, and counting. There's something about a person utterly defying our expectations, especially to the comical degree that Irving is able to pull off on the court, that makes for strangely compelling stuff.

For those uninitiated, Irving, a perennial all-star, has one of the best handles in the NBA, routinely shattering ankles of fellow professional basketball players all over the country. The ads start out with him wearing a lumpy gray sweatsuit, and moving as if his double-knee replacement surgery didn't quite take.

He shows up at some pickup court, gets himself into the game, looks intentionally terrible for a few minutes, and then, when everyone has given up on him, turns it on and starts schooling fools, crossing them over until they spin around helplessly, and dunking on anyone else who might stand in his way. To an old ballplayer, and longtime unabashed fan of the sport, it's absolutely irresistible. Hoops catnip, as it were.

Which is to say, I might be a good deal more inclined toward the premise of this ramshackle film than a lot of nonhoops fans might, although if you don't like the sport, there's no reason for you to be watching in the first place.

For the film, Irving, along with director Charles Stone III, has cobbled together some other serious ballplayers -- though interestingly, other than the film's arch-nemesis player, played by current NBA player Aaron Gordon, the rest of the cast is indeed filled out with hoops retirees, albeit much younger than they are portraying. Along with Shaq, there's Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie, each playing under similar old-age makeup, with hitches in their gate, and hesitancy on the court -- at least, at first.

Lil Rel Howery plays Dax, a would-be coach, who is having a rough ride. First, his longtime antagonist Mookie (Nick Kroll, always a treat) steals his Rucker Park Classic competing team, including Gordon's character, Casper, out from under him; then his faithless girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish) dumps him for Mookie, the dude who has haunted him ever since a high-school game went wrong years before.

With nowhere else to turn, and nothing left to lose, Dax eventually hitches his wagon to Drew, a philosophic old-head, who espouses his love of the game when it is played the right way. By that, he means sharing the ball, and moving as if a Utah Jazz ensemble, seamlessly blending talents together without rancor or ego.

He agrees to help Dax, but only if he can round up his old squad, who were poised to take the Rucker title back in '68, except for his penchant with the ladies lead him to mess around with the wife of one of his teammates the night before the championship game, causing the whole squad to break up and be done with one another.

The most enjoyable part of the film is the road trip Dax and Drew go on in order to round up the team. Webber plays Preacher, a minister whose church they visit as he's about to literally dunk a baby for a baptism; Miller plays Lights (as in Lights Out), a distance shooter, who is now legally blind and can't throw it into the ocean from the shore; Shaq plays, um, "Big Fella," now a kids' karate instructor, still bitterly angry at Drew for his transgression; and Robinson plays "Boots," holed up in the psych-ward of a nursing home, and getting around in a wheelchair with his sweet niece Maya (Erica Ash), in tow. Leslie plays Preacher's wife, a fiery, God-fearing woman, who at first terrorizes the crew when she tries to get her husband to return with her, but later, makes amends, as they all seem to do, on the court.

As can be expected, the actors are a bit of a mixed bag. Irving, having long perfected Drew's gravelly delivery, seems perfectly comfortable, Webber is actually impressively committed to his role, adding a facial twist, and hitching gait that actually does sell his advanced age, Leslie does OK with the little she's given. The less said about Miller's acting, likely the better, and Robinson, by dint of his character's mental disorder, is thankfully asked to say as few lines as possible.

Easily the weakest element of the film -- aside from one truly regrettable section where Irving and Shaq actually try to carry a dramatic scene together at a graveyard -- are the plotting conventions and sloppy transitionary moments for the characters it tramples over to give us the showdown everyone is expecting to see.

In this way, it's more than a bit shaggy, but, truly, just watching Irving do his electric thing, or Miller's pure jumper again -- it shocked me how much I'd missed seeing it since his retirement in 2005 -- brought a smile to my face. There's also a scene where the crew has a memorable dance-off against some young cats in a club that's a showcase for the players to brandish their skills.

If you don't ask for much more than that, the film works just fine. I certainly don't long for a sequel, but any film that clearly and demonstrably loves hoops as much as this one does is hard to resist.

photo

Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving dons old age makeup to play the title character in Uncle Drew.

MovieStyle on 06/29/2018

Upcoming Events