I admit it: I love videos of little kids swearing. There is something about the juxtaposition of innocent kids doing something adult that doesn’t hurt them or anyone else that just tickles my funnybone. (And I assume lots of other people’s, since those videos tend to get a lot of views). That said, films that aim to capitalize on the trend are pretty hit or miss. One that worked well was 2019’s “Good Boys” from Gene Stupnitsky. I hoped perhaps we would get something similar from Charles Stone III’s “The Underdoggs” streaming on Prime Video.
Jaycen “2J’s” Jennings (Snoop Dogg) is a washed-up former football star. When he causes an accident, he is sentenced to 300 hours of community service. As Jaycen is cleaning up a park, he finds himself observing a youth football squad in desperate need of a coach. While at first he is reticent to spend his time trying to make things better for these kids, after speaking with his old high school coach, Feis (George Lopez), he decides this is an opportunity for him to improve his social media standing. He may even hook up with his old girlfriend Cherise (Tika Sumpter), mom to one of the players. Will 2J’s be able to turn these “underdoggs” around and win it all?
Sometimes movies disappoint me because I can see unrealized potential in them and “The Underdoggs” is very much one of those movies. The plot is quite predictable, but even so there is enough difference to elevate this movie — maybe not to something great, but something more than just another “unwilling coach turns a rag-tag team of losers into something better” movie. Unfortunately, the raunchy aspects of this film work against it.
I am no prude, so I don’t mind swearing or even kids swearing. But part of what makes that funny is the shock value of it, and when a film is absolutely littered with cursing, the shock wears off quickly. As a result, the movie does become something we’ve already seen, whether it’s “The Bad News Bears” or “The Mighty Ducks” — just with way more f-bombs.
The cast in this is clearly have a good time together. Snoop is funny and brings a great energy to the screen. Mike Epps, as Jaycen’s best friend, brings some entertaining moments to the movie. The kids all appear to be having fun and Jonigan Booth is a standout in his role as Tre. I just wish all of them had been given a stronger script to work from.
One thing this movie does well is to highlight the work Snoop Dogg has done with the Snoop Youth Football League. More than 85,000 kids have played, providing opportunities for more than 20,000 to attend college. I may not be a fan of “The Underdoggs,” but for that work, I can give a hearty “hell yeah!”
ALISE CHAFFINS is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
