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The UnderDoggs
    review by Bobby Blakey 

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Rap icon Snoop Dogg has rebranded himself throughout his career as so many different things including actor, wrestler, host, chef, football coach and everything in between. While he continues to churn out music that hasn’t slowed him down in the acting department at all. His latest film The UnderDoggs co-stars Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps, Andrew Schulz, and George Lopez with Drumline and Mr. 3000 director Charles Stone III at the helm. Could this film bring the inspirational underdog story some fresh swag or will it fail to drop it like its hot?

 

The UnderDoggs follows Jaycen "Two Js" Jennings, a washed-up ex-professional football star who has hit rock bottom. When Jaycen is sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown of Long Beach, California, he sees it as an opportunity to rebuild his public image and turn his life around. As Jaycen works to transform the foul-mouthed Underdoggs into top-notch champions, he reconnects with his past, including an old flame and few of his ex-teammates and rediscovers his love of the game.

 

Typically, when you get certain high profile people taking on roles like this it is often hard to buy into it all. With this film and knowing that Snoop Dogg has been heavily involved in kids’ football, even setting up his own highly successful league makes it easy to put him right in the mix. This story has some clear inspiration from his experiences coaching and dealing with youth sports, but obviously taking some clear liberties to make a fun and very not kid friendly flick.

 

To be clear it is all the language that is an issue with more F bombs, N words and use of the word titties than I have ever seen outside of the hip hop scene. They are all used in a way that speaks volumes to who Jennings is supposed to be and his own selfish and inappropriate behavior. This is kind of like the

Bad News Bears meets football with a splash of the LCB and Death Row and worked way more than I expected it might.

 

I have been a fan of Snoop’s music since he debuted on the Deep Cover soundtrack and always follow everything he does. He has become a decent enough actor with here pretty much playing an over-the-top version of himself. If you aren’t a fan on any level, then it will likely wear thin on you pretty quick. The story is pretty by the book for this genre of film, and you know where and how it might all play out, but it offers up enough fun, and laughs wrapped up in heart to entertain.

 

All the kids in the film are great and do a good job of bouncing off Snoop Dogg’s banter. Everyone looks to be having some fun and it helps the film to step up more than it might have otherwise. This isn’t a film that is going to break any tropes or anything, but brings enough to the field to entertain audiences that like these kinds of stories. It has a great end message regarding Snoop’s history with the league he has formed and being the inspiration for the film as well as tons of photos from the real leagues and Snoop coaching the various kids.

 

Decide for yourself and check out The UnderDoggs streaming now exclusively on Prime Video.

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