In brief: An Adam Sandler comedy I actually liked, and was better than the original! Who’da thunk it?

Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes (not counting closing credits)

Story by Albert S. Ruddy
Based on the 1974 screenplay by Tracy Keenan Wynn
Screenplay adapted by Sheldon Turner
Directed by Peter Segal

---CAST:
Adam Sandler as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe
Chris Rock as Caretaker
Burt Reynolds as Nate Scarborough
James Cromwell as Warden Hazen
William Fichtner as Captain Knauer
Courntey Cox as Lena
Nelly as Earl Megget
Terry Crews as Cheeseburger Eddy
Nicholas Turturro as Brucie
Vincent Pastore (uncredited)
Tracy Morgan as Ms. Tucker
David Patrick Kelly as Unger
Bill Goldberg as Joey Battle
Cloris Leachman as Lynette Reynolds
Kevin Nash as Guard Engleheart
Steve Austin as Guard Dunham
Brian Bosworth as Guard Garner

I don’t like Adam Sandler. I don’t care for his humor, and I haven’t even bothered seeing his “serious” films (Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish). Read my review of 8 Crazy Nights as an example. Even worse, some of the people I tried to recruit for the screening of this film that I saw two weeks ago were horrified that the notion of the 1974 original being remade. Nonetheless, I found the trailer interesting, and I was curious, so on the day I staffed the screening, I decided to stay and watch the movie when it started. Not bad.The movie stars Sandler as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, a self-destructive former NFL great who fell from grace amid a point-shaving scandal, and who, following a drunken joy ride in his girlfriend’s car, is sent to a prison whose warden wants him to put together a football team to compete at a championship game with his guards. What follows is Crewe’s befriending of a variety of crooks, sociopaths, arsonists and other dregs of society, whom he tries to sign up for a team, and the comedy (and bit of drama) that ensues. The movie was okay in my opinion, with some funny jokes, and nice running gags. There was a sense that certain character arcs and plot conflicts were resolved a bit too easily, but for a Sandler comedy, I didn’t think I should complain. It was an okay way to spend an hour and forty-seven minutes, and I was genuinely curious to see the original, which I rented when I went home that night. It is in seeing the original that one sees why this Sandler comedy was so good: It is a scene-for-scene, and often line-for-line redo of the original, which means that it isn’t marred by Sandler’s trademark obsession with bodily fluids and non-sequiturs. Even better, the film improves on the original by fleshing out the characters more, and finding greater comic possibilities in the various sequences. After watching the original, I was left wondering what it was even doing in the comedy section. For some examples:

-Crewe’s confrontation with his girlfriend in the very beginning of the film is decidedly Politically Incorrect in the 74 version, and would anger a lot of feminists. The 2005 eliminates this aspect of Crewe’s character, and makes it clear that his girlfriend is the bad guy in the relationship. Incidentally, Courtney Cox looks way hotter in the film than Anitra Ford did in the original.

-Maybe it’s me, or the way I grew up watching Eddie Albert in certain films, but he was just way too cute and cuddly a teddy bear to be believable as the evil Warden Hazen. James Cromwell cuts a far more believably nasty Hazen in the 2005 version.

-Hazen’s “Colonel Sanders” friend, who is present when Crewe first meets him in the beginning of the film when first arriving at the prison, is far more colorful in 2005 than the bland cipher in the 74 version.

-In the 74 version, when Crewe and Caretaker try to sign up a supposedly “scary” inmate, the inmates is just some bald guy who learned karate and killed people on the inside. Sure, that’s scary, and the guy doesn’t look like a wimp, but he hardly looks more imposing than any of the other inmates, and he agrees to be on the team just a bit too easily. It also makes no sense that they’d let a five-time killer learn karate after being sent to prison. Hell, the guy’s name is “Connie Schuckner.” Not exactly a moniker to instill terror in the hearts of men. But just see the trailer of the 2005 version to see what the “scary” inmate looks like. He IS scary-looking, his name is “Sasquatch,” the viewer doesn’t know if he’s going to rip off Crewe’s head when Crewe tries to recruit him, and he doesn’t join as easily.

-The new version has far more characters that are given screen time (despite the fact that the running time, without closing credits, is nine minutes shorter than the original), such as Nick Turturro’s character. The old version also doesn’t have the gay inmates that new version does. The cheerleaders in the old version appear to be regular cheerleaders, but the new version uses a running gag to use the cheerleaders for comic effect.

-The 2005 version makes a far stronger connection between specific inmates and specific guards that each of them hate, illustrating their motives for joining Crewe’s team far more clearly, and gives a greater sense of setup-and-payoff in this regard when the opponents face off.

-Possibly the best sequence during the recruitment portion of the film, and maybe the best character sequence in the film, is when Crewe tries to recruit the black inmates. In the original, it’s mostly absent, and the joining of one of them is handled sloppily and boringly, without any conflict or tension.

-In both versions, Crewe has to perform a certain service in order to obtain films of the guards’ games. In the 2005 version, this sequence is more comical, and actually seems unpleasant for Crewe, which is enhances the humor, since having hapless characters forced to do things they don’t want to do lends itself far better to humor. In the original, the “task,” if you want to call it that, seems pretty darn desirable! Hell, I’d do it! Not much comedy there.

-The 74 version contained a sequence in which tells Unger that Crewe “got to the warden” and “blew the whistle on Unger specifically” which made no sense to me at all. The sequence is far clearer in the 2005 version.

-The scene in which the cons watch films of the guards’ games is not in the original.

-A really funny running gag involving a guard that was using steroids in the film is not in the original.

-The cons’ football uniforms are nicer in the remake, and the scene in which they receive them makes more sense.

-To intimidate the cons’ right before the final game, a guard punches the wall in the cons’ locker room, putting holes in the plaster. Not impossible to do, but most anyone could do it. In the new version, he headbuts a locker, totally warping it. The medal goes to the new version.

-The pairing of the two announcers in the remake is obviously milked for more laughs than the single announcer in the original.

-Scarborough’s participation in the final game is delayed somewhat in the remake, and I think it’s an improvement in terms of the story.

-The biased referee in the remake is not in the original.

-A bit in which a guard gets hit in the groin in the original is tweaked a bit in the remake, and far funnier.

-An important play that Crewe uses at the end of the film in the 2005 is not in the 74 version, making the latter version’s resolution far more interesting.

-The final touchdown is filmed WAY better in the new version. Not only is the camera angle more interesting, but the 74 version was more confusing, consisting of a series of frozen still shots, which brought the sequence to a screeching halt for me. In addition, the way the referee’s pistol went off in the 74 version confused me, because it went off before the ball hit the Astroturf, leading me to wonder if the touchdown wasn’t made (when in fact, the movie indicated that it was).

….And so on. Possibly the only portion of the original film that’s superior to the new one is when Crewe and Caretaker discuss Crewe’s shameful point-shaving scandal. It’s handled with a bit more depth in the original. Of course, even here, the new version makes up for it somewhat by having Crewe fess up to his team near the end of the film.

There’s also an excellent twist in the remake that’s made specifically for those who saw the original. It occurs when someone turns on the light in his cell. Those of you who saw the original will see it and appreciate the tip of the hat to the original in this scene.

If you like Sandler, you’ll probably like this film. If you don’t like Sandler, you might even like it anyway. I recommend it when it comes out Memorial Day.

Nits
Why doesn’t Knauer want Crew to taken Hazen’s offer in the beginning of the film? This was not clear in the 74 version, and it’s not clear now.

Somehow I don’t think that bottles of anabolic steroids actually have the words “Anabolic Steroids” written in big letters on them. They probably have the technical chemical name for what the substance is, or a brand name.

Hi, Luigi! I watched the original version this evening and am looking forward to the remake, largely because of your review. I'll respond to some points you made, but won't repeat anything I already posted on the 1974 board.

Luigi said: After watching the original, I was left wondering what it was even doing in the comedy section.
I looked for the original version in the comedy section and couldn't find it. A clerk found it in the action section and wondered, like I did, why it wasn't with the comedies. After watching it and remembering some of the violence, I could understand the decision. But I still found the movie quite funny.

Maybe it’s me, or the way I grew up watching Eddie Albert in certain films, but he was just way too cute and cuddly a teddy bear to be believable as the evil Warden Hazen.
This is a great point that hadn't occurred to me! I'm trying to imagine the conversation ... "Hi, Burt! Guess what? We found someone to play the bad guy in 'Longest Yard.' You might remember him from 'Green Acres' ..."

The old version also doesn’t have the gay inmates that new version does. The cheerleaders in the old version appear to be regular cheerleaders, but the new version uses a running gag to use the cheerleaders for comic effect.
None of the main characters in the original were homosexual (well, Unger seemed to be), but the cheerleaders were cross-dressers. The PA announcer refered to them as something like the Men from Cell Block C, and after the game, one is seen pulling off his wig.

Possibly the best sequence during the recruitment portion of the film, and maybe the best character sequence in the film, is when Crewe tries to recruit the black inmates. In the original, it’s mostly absent, and the joining of one of them is handled sloppily and boringly, without any conflict or tension.
I'm not sure what you're referring to. Do you remember? I liked in the original how the guards' inability to goad Granny into a confrontation prompted the other blacks to join the team.

The scene in which the cons watch films of the guards’ games is not in the original.
There was a brief scene. Perhaps I need to see the new version to understand your point.

A really funny running gag involving a guard that was using steroids in the film is not in the original.
In the original, Caretaker said he could obtain steroids, but I recall no other reference to them. (Just pointing it out for the record.)

The final touchdown ... the 74 version was more confusing, consisting of a series of frozen still shots, which brought the sequence to a screeching halt for me. In addition, the way the referee’s pistol went off in the 74 version confused me, because it went off before the ball hit the Astroturf, leading me to wonder if the touchdown wasn’t made (when in fact, the movie indicated that it was).
To me, the series of stills was very effective, the best use of the split-screen motif in the movie. I also thought the referee's pistol, indicating time had expired, was clear. It's just like in basketball, a ball that's in the air when the buzzer sounds will still count if it goes through the basket.

Hi, Trike. Thank you for the high compliment.

Someone subsequently asserted to me that the original is a drama, and may be found in the drama section of some stores.

I must've missed or fogotten the line about "Men from Cell Block C," but I do remember wondering if they were men, since in some shots they looked masculine. I wasn't sure, and ultimately figured they were women. I guess this underscores how unclear the point was made in the original, and why the remake is WAY better in that regard (among many others).

If you're referring to the scene in library with the books, and the guards using racial epithets, that's in the remake too. But the scene in which Crewe first greets the black inmates on the basketball court earlier, near the beginning of the film, is enhanced in the remake, making it stand out all its own, and reveals character on the part of both Crewe and the one or two of the black inmates. Hence, the subsequent library scene further expands it. In the original, the basketball court scene doesn't fully explain the conflict between the two blacks who disagree, and could've been edited out altogether, IMO.

In the remake, the film-watching scene is memorable, and contains a gag that touches upon Nick Turturro and Tracy Morgan's characters.

The steroid gag in the remake is more than a reference; We see a guard taking them, and then we see how the inmates deal with that problem, creating a hilarious running gag throughout the rest of the film, possibly the film's funniest.

I guess that type of use of still shots may have been more common in the 70's, and maybe I was biased by the type of film techniques used more often today. Still, I think the remake was clearer and flowed more smoothly.

I didn't know this: The former NFL stars in the film, like Brian Bosworth, wear their old NFL numbers when playing in the film. Nice touch.

Ed Lauter, who played Captain Knauer in the original (and Joshua Albert's dad in The First Duty(TNG), plays one of Warden Hazen's golfing buddies who speaks to Crewe in the 2005 version. I didn't realize this until I saw the current version again at another screening we did for it on Monday the 16th.

Burt Reynolds slapped a CBS producer in the face when the producer said to Reynolds that he had never seen either the original version or the remake of The Longest Yard. More on that here.

Well, at least I'm safe!

I heard the incident was blown out of proportion, and it was just a playful, friendly thing, not an assault or even close.

Yeah, I saw the video, and he appeared to be just joking around. Even the "victim" in question blew off the whole thing.

It's the same sort of verbal one-upmanship Reynolds has always engaged in with people he feels comfortable with. In another interview (this time in studio, where he was more "sober"), he said that if that were an example of abuse, then Dom de Luise would have one heck of a lawsuit (or something like that).

Wow, Roger Ebert has REVERSED his initial "thumbs up" judgment of the film!.

Much better than I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed it a lot and laughed out loud. A few parts seemed a little unbelieveable, but that's what movies are for. I tend to like Rock in whatever he does, and Sandler delivers a solid performance. Even those who hate his comedy may not be too annoyed since he's much more reserved in this film. The supporting cast is filled with colorful and entertaining characters. Plus, it's a sports movie and I tend to enjoy those. I'm glad that I didn't have to pay for it, but I probably would have felt that it was worth the price of admission anyway. I just wouldn't pay to see it again.

I was going to blow this movie off, but my son (he's 15 1/2) wants to see it, as some of his favorite WWE stars (like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) are in it. Ah, what we'll do for our children...

I'm a bit embarassed to admit it, but I kind of liked this movie. I thought it was pretty entertaining; with Adam Sandler starring, it could have been a whole lot worse.
The "scary inmate" kind of reminded me of Richard Kiel (the Kanamit in the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man," and "Jaws" in two Bond films.)
James Cromwell was good as a nasty guy. He played the part exactly the same way in Space Cowboys, where he was the NASA administrator.
Burt Reynolds had a nice supporting part. In his early scenes, his beard seemed to change color and thickness from scene to scene.

Also, when Crewe backs the Bentley into the police car and then pulls off, the rear of the Bentley is totally unscathed. Not even a scratch.