Susan Granger’s review of “Uncle Drew” (Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment)
Five-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving comes to the rescue in this amusing senior citizen comedy, a spinoff of viral Pepsi ads in which the Boston Celtics point guard plays a grumpy, geriatric character.
The set-up for this film introduces basketball fanatic Dax (Lil Rey Howery), who has always wanted the neighborhood team that he coaches to win the $100,000 cash prize in Harlem’s ‘Rucker Classic’ tournament.
But then his longtime rival, Mookie (Nick Kroll), not only poaches his streetball squad but also his materialistic girlfriend, Jess (Tiffany Haddish).
Having already spent his life-savings on the registration fee, Dax convinces legendary Uncle Drew (that’s Pepsi’s Irving) and his septuagenarian buddies – Big Fella (Shaquille OI’Neal), Preacher (Chris Webber), wheelchair-bound Boots (Nate Robinson) and legally-blind Lights (Reggie Miller) – to return to the court one last time.
(Not being basketball savvy, I had to trust to press notes to find out that it’s a kind of homage to real-life street-ball legend Earl Manigault.)
Needless to say, the seemingly-decrepit, yet deceptively agile geezers outplay the ‘hippity-hoppity youngbloods,’ referring to the same quote as “Tag”: “You don’t stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing.”
Produced by ESPN in partnership with Pepsi and Nike, flimsily scripted as a cliché-cluttered, underdog story by Jay Longino (“Skiptrace”) and unevenly directed by Charles Stone III (“Drumline”), it’s all about teamwork and taking risks to achieve your goals.
As Uncle Drew tells Dax: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Most memorable as the hero’s cautionary best-friend in “Get Out,” Lil Rey Howery once again draws on his comedic timing. And retired WNBA star Lisa Leslie appears as Preacher’s irate wife, Betty Lou.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Uncle Drew” dunks a silly, sports-lovers 6, as the mature roster scores.
