Reggie Miller still can’t play defense. I dunno quite what I expected from the least-worthy inclusion in the NBA Hall of Fame, but I personally found it hilarious that the one time “Lights” (Miller) is asked to defend in the film, the outcome is a game-ending injury. Somehow, that explains a whole lot about Reggie Miller.
Basketball, comedy, and nostalgia are all on display in Uncle Drew, a movie that reminds us what fun it is to play with makeup, even if you’re not that good at it. The Rucker is an annual NYC streetball tournament open to every team that can afford a $5k entry fee. Shoe salesman and born loser Dax (Lil Rel Howery) has put together a can’t-miss champion featuring Casper (Aaron Gordon), a flying carpet among throw rugs. It wouldn’t be a movie without a movie happening, hence Dax’s rival Mookie (Nick Kroll) shows up and *poof* like a friendly ghost, Casper disappears from Daxi’s Midnight Runners or whatever they’re called. Adding insult to injury, Mookie also claims Dax’s loud mouth S.O., Jess (Tiffany Haddish). Career-wise, Nick Kroll has apparently made Chris Kattan superfluous; I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Suddenly without a team, money, a place to live, or a shred of self-dignity, all Dax has left is an entry in the Rucker tournament. With a potential $100,000 payday, the Rucker could solve everything, but where to find a team? Can’t say I was wild about this next part – in the search, Dax continually gets turned down by decent street players. I’m sorry, you play street ball for free, but don’t wish to play in the Rucker? Is this a joke? When it seems all is lost, Dax happens upon geriatric streetball legend Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving). Perennial NBA All Star Kyrie Irving can still bring it even in heavy makeup; Drew agrees to be part of the Dax machine on the premise that he gets to construct the team entirely among his own set of ancient playground homies (and a number of other rules involving the temperature, footwear, and 8-track tapes in his 70s-style love van).
This essentially becomes a “getting the band back together” movie not unlike The Blues Brothers. First stop is DC where Dax and Drew interrupt Preacher (Chris Webber) busy slam dunking a baby and Betty Lou (Lisa Leslie) busy making sure Preacher is present to slam dunk babies. After that, the van fills with Lights, Boots (Nate Robinson), and Big Fella (Shaquille O’Neal). I may not have thought much of the technical make-up work – for one thing, it’s quite clear that Kyrie Irving is wearing a false beard- but I have no fault with the art design. As the film so aptly comments, Nate Robinson looks like Frederick Douglass and Shaq resembles “Wolverine’s grandfather.” If you can’t get a laugh out of Shaquille O’Neal’s look, you’re at the wrong movie.
And laughs are at the heart of this film – it’s funny when the legends of the NBA get schooled by little girls; it’s funny when Shaq makes a Kobe reference; it’s funny when Chris Webber has to be lectured on how many time outs he has remaining. There are several NBA in-jokes, including one Shaq free-throw reference which, honestly, doesn’t work, because, well, what street game has free
throws?
The film is set up so that the counter to old man Kyrie in the movie is the young Aaron Gordon. Have you watched no NBA, people? You don’t defeat old man Irving with Aaron Gordon; you beat him with either Steph Curry dressed as Father Time or, I dunno, an Earth scientist.
In Uncle Drew, professional basketball players reminded us again that, for whatever reason, they seem to have much better acting chops than their sporting rivals. I don’t see a similar movie with the legends of football or baseball being nearly as entertaining. The actual plot follows a very Bad News Bears formula, which only works if you actually start believing a mix of five NBA legends are capable of losing a game of street ball your to mom and her bridge team. It’s not an easy sell, but watching the general mobility of all the non-Kyrie talents, hey, I could start to believe it, maybe.
♪Talkin’ round ball
Shaq and Lisa Leslie
Round ball
Reggie Miller can’t see
Nate Robinson in disguise absurd
Chris Webber preaching the Holy Word
Kyrie dressed as Fred Sanford♫
Rated PG-13, 103 Minutes
Director: Charles Stone III
Writer: Jay Longino
Genre: Mockery, in basketball form
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Basketball fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People with no appreciation for hyperbole
♪ Parody Inspired by “Talkin’ Baseball”
