The Underdoggs, Slip In Slip Out Entertainment | Hollywood News
Two compelling reasons to watch director Charles Stone III’s lively film The Underdoggs. Firstly, football is in the spotlight, especially with Maidaan gaining attention. Secondly, the film’s main star, rapper Snoop Dogg, evokes memories of a young Eddie Murphy, making it a humorous yet engaging experience.
The Underdoggs, Slip In Slip Out Entertainment
There are two reasons to watch director Charles Stone III’s frothy precocious The Underdoggs. Firstly football is the sports of the season, what with Maidaan making all the majestic moves. And secondly, the frisky film’s lead, rapper Snoop Dogg reminded me so much of the young Eddie Murphy that it isn’t funny…or rather, it is damn funny.
The jokes are baby p**n. Yeah yeah, I know, kids mouthing adult humour is not something to be laughed at. But guess what? The kids here say dirty things with such insouciance it doesn’t feel strained or offensive.
Snoop Dogg plays…well he plays football, but he actually plays a certifiable jerk. One of those pompous ex-superstars like Rajesh Khanna in his fading days who continues to believe he is still a force to reckon with.
But Jaycen Jennings is more a farce to wreck-on with.
He is the kind of toxic guy who will spread negativity wherever he goes. But he is also very funny in his pathetic pomposity. Once a football star, now a hot balloon, Jaycen is the kind of party crasher who will head straight to the bar and probably tell dirty jokes to whoever is listening.
In brief, major grief. But also hilarious in his bubble existence.
As in many of Eddie Murphy’s films, Snoop Dogg’s cocky trash curator’s act is amusing in parts, especially when he is coaching football to the bunch of bright insolent kids who have as much respect for Jaycen as one would have for the neighbour who throws his trash into one’s backyard each night.
This is the spirit of winking insubordination that the plot, for whatever it is worth, aims for. It is on target most of the way. But the interest-level begins to sag drastically towards the end. The supposed climax is so slapdash that it threatens to negate the mildly recreational mood that the narrative whips in in its first two acts.
Did they run out of gags or just lost interest?
After the relatively waggish first and second act, the turd act could have been avoided. Nonetheless, The Underdoggs does function without shaky legs on a certain fuelled energy, for a while. It is largely to Snoop Dogg’s credit that he holds the paper thin storytelling in place for as long as he can. He is an entertainer for sure, especially while screaming insults to the kids on the field, like, “Your father should have pulled out.”
Surprisingly it isn’t only Snoop Dogg who holds the show together. There are other likeable characters played by actors who know how to make the audience smile without leaning too far into the risqué zone.
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