"The Underdoggs" is "The Bad News Bears" with blunts and more swears but no actual laughs

The Underdoggs (2024)

"The Underdoggs" is basically "The Bad News Bears" (or "The Mighty Ducks" or "Little Giants," take your pick) with Snoop Dogg saying “motherfucker” a whole lot. It’s an underdog sports comedy with a foul mouth but no actual laughs, and that’s the real bad news bears. 

Dogg plays Jaycen ‘2 Js’ Jennings, a football legend once upon a time in high school before becoming an outstanding wide receiver with a championship ring. A bad attitude and an inflated ego later, Jaycen tarnishes his cereal-box public image and can’t even get his own agent (Kal Penn) to return his calls. Speeding off in a huff and causing damage of city property, he’s ordered to his old neighborhood of Long Beach to complete 300 hours of community service. Instead, the has-been ends up coaching a ragtag peewee football team, and hilarity should ensue. Right? Bueller?

 

A crass, expletive-filled disclaimer is very funny, and then the actual movie begins. America may love an underdog (no matter the number of Gs), but “The Underdoggs” is so by-the-numbers and instantly forgettable that it’s bound to go up in a puff of ganja smoke. Director Charles Stone III and writers Isaac Schamis & Danny Segal seem to have relied wholly on the mere presence of Snoop Dogg because every underdog sports movie cliché gets checked off without any clever tweaks or surprises. Will Jaycen reconnect with his former flame, Cherise (Tika Sumpter), who just so happens to be the mom to one of the players? Will Jaycen learn to be less selfish and become a leader for these kids? Is water wet? Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: D +

Amazon MGM Studios released "The Underdoggs" (101 min.) to Prime Video on January 26, 2024.