Film Review: ‘The Underdoggs’ is a Foul-Mouthed But Surprisingly Good-Hearted Sports Comedy Vehicle for Snoop Dogg

I’ll admit to going into The Underdoggs with low expectations. A Snoop Dogg star vehicle could really be anything. Sure, his persona has evolved into something really fun over the years, but his acting credits don’t always inspire confidence. So, to my surprise, this sports comedy is actually a decent amount of fun. It’s very much a vehicle for him, no question, but he turns in solid work. The narrative and execution are very familiar, almost to a fault, but by the end, it’s hard not to get at least a little caught up in its charms.

The Underdoggs is very much trying to be a new version of The Bad News Bears. There isn’t a new take on that type of tale to be found, which limits just how effective it can be, but this definitely has more of an edge than most family-friendly (if this counts as family-friendly) type fare tends to have. Provided that you’re okay with your kids hearing a ton of bad language, it has a surprisingly positive message to impart on the viewer.

A retired football prodigy, Jaycen “Two Js” Jennings (Snoop Dogg) has gone from a star in the NFL to a washed-up curmudgeon, hosting a podcast from his bed. Sentenced to community service after an incident, Jaycen initially is picking up trash at a park in his hometown of Long Beach, California. One day, he encounters an unruly pee-wee football team there, with one of the kids’ mothers being old flame Cherise (Tika Sumpter). Seeing an opportunity to rebuild his public image and turn his life around. as well as potentially woo Cherise, Jaycen asks to coach the team. Suddenly, the surly former star wide receiver is coaching the Underdoggs.

Initially, they’re foul-mouthed and unruly, but so is he, so there’s a bond that slowly forms. Between his knowledge of the game and his ability to connect with the kids, the team starts winning, eventually making it to the championship game. As that’s happening, he’s getting in touch with his past, both in terms of football and the people who made him who he was, before he forgot it all. You know this story well, and it doesn’t deviate, but it has a different flavor than we’ve seen before.

Snoop Dogg turns in the most complete performance I’ve seen from him to date. The humor is more or less what we’ve seen from him over the years, but the light character work and evolution of Jaycen is noteworthy. It’s also crucial, since the kids are largely stock types for a film like this, while Tika Sumpter has very little to do. Mike Epps plays an assistant coach that mostly grates on you, while Kal Penn has a few fun scenes as Jaycen’s agent. Other supporting characters in the movie include George Lopez, Andrew Schulz, and more.

Director Charles Stone III follows the playbook for a movie of this ilk, as do writers Isaac Schamis, Constance Schwartz-Morini, and Danny Segal. It leads to a bland looking film, though one that knows where to find the laughs. It’s almost always going for the low art humor, but when it makes time for good lessons and some low-key character work, it manages to pull it off. Everyone involved is working off of Snoop Dogg, no question, but it’s a choice that pays off more than it doesn’t.

The Underdoggs is more of less what you think it is. If you’re looking for a new kid-centric sports comedy, you can do a lot worse. Again, aside from the language, which is very consistently foul, it’s the type of story we saw in The Bad News Bears, Little Giants (a cuddlier take, to be sure), and so on. I see the flaws in this flick, as well as its limited ambition, but I can’t deny how entertaining I found it, in the end.

SCORE: ★★1/2