The Longest Yard (2005)

The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by Sheldon Turner. A remake of 1974's film of the same name, it stars Adam Sandler as a washed-up former professional American football quarterback who goes to prison and is forced to assemble a team to play against the guards. The film co-stars Chris Rock, James Cromwell, Nelly, William Fichtner, David Patrick Kelly, Tracy Morgan, Cloris Leachman, and Burt Reynolds, who played Sandler's role in the original.

It was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and Canada, and Sony Pictures Releasing–under the Columbia Pictures label–in other territories on May 27, 2005 to mixed reviews from critics.

Storyline[]

Paul Crewe is a former National Football League (NFL) quarterback who was accused of shaving points. Though it was never confirmed, he was placed on federal probation for five years. One night, dissatisfied with his life, he gets drunk during a party and goes joyriding through San Diego in his girlfriend Lena's Bentley, causing a high-speed police chase and car crash. His probation is revoked and he is sentenced to three years in prison.

Instead of being imprisoned in California, he gets transferred to Texas, thanks to the influence and contacts of Warden Rudolph Hazen, an avid football fan. Wishing to boost his prison's reputation for future elections as State Governor, he uses threats and confinement in a hot box to coerce Crewe into helping the prison guards' football team, led by the sadistic Captain Knauer. Crewe informs Hazen that what Hazen's team needs is a tune-up game to boost the guards' confidence, and is therefore coerced to form an inmate team to play against the guards. He does so with the help of a newfound friend, Caretaker. They start off with a poorly organized team, before being noticed by another prisoner, former college football star Nate Scarborough, who decides to help coach the team by gathering several intimidating inmates as a boost to the team's strength. The team still lacks speed and coordination, particularly because the athletic black inmates led by Deacon Moss refuse to play over Crewe's past. After witnessing Crewe's temerity during a one-on-one basketball game against Moss, one of the black inmates Earl Megget decides to join the team as their running back. Later, after witnessing how Megget is intimidated by racial attacks by the guards, Deacon and his gang join the team, thus improving the team's overall quality.

Hazen and the guards hinder Crewe's team in several ways, such as flooding the field, but they overcome the obstacles and attempt to sabotage the guards. Meanwhile, inmate Unger spies on the activities of the inmates and after being pressured by the guards, rigs Crewe's radio with an explosive. Caretaker unknowingly enters the cell to give a photo gift to Crewe but is killed when he tries to turn the dial on the radio. On game day, the inmates are revitalized in the wake of Caretaker's murder when they find he used his connections to his cousin at Reebok to supply the inmates with quality uniforms and gear with the team name "Mean Machine". Crewe deals with some difficulty getting the inmates to focus on winning the game rather than assaulting the guards during opening play, stating that a loss to them would be a far bigger mark of shame to the guards than any physical brutality they could inflict. Though the guards take an early lead, even having the referees call bogus penalties on them (which Crewe resolves by throwing the ball twice into the referees' genitals to send them a message to rule fairly), by the end of the first half, the Mean Machines tie the game.

During halftime, Hazen threatens to implicate Crewe in Caretaker's murder and increase his prison sentence to 25 years unless Crewe purposely throws the game. During the opening of the second half, Crewe deliberately throws the game and abandons his teammates despite their efforts to catch up in scoring. After earning a three-touchdown lead on the Mean Machines, the Guards brutally injure the inmates, spurring Crewe to re-enter the field. The inmates initially refuse to help him, allowing him to be sacked twice, but on fourth and long, Crewe completes a first down on his own. Crewe confesses that he threw the game that got him cut from the NFL to cover debts he owed to "worse people". Informing the team of Hazen's threats, he declares that he would stay with the inmates rather than betray Caretaker's memory. The Mean Machines rally behind Crewe and with a decisive two-point conversion, they win the game by a one-point margin.

Knauer congratulates Crewe for his victory and promises that he'll vouch for him against any implication for Caretaker's murder. He's subsequently admonished by Hazen for losing a fixed game and notices that Crewe is heading towards the exit. Eagerly implying Crewe is trying to escape, Hazen orders that Crewe be shot. Knauer hesitates and at the last moment realizes that Crewe is only picking up the game football. Crewe returns it to Hazen, telling him to "stick it in [his] trophy case". Deacon and Battle then dump Gatorade on Hazen, while Crewe and Scarbrough go to get information on where Unger is so that psychotic inmate Switowski can deal with him.

The Longest Yard (2005)

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Storyline[]

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