Review of Uncle Drew (2018) by Kar C — 10 Jul 2018

Is this film for everyone? No, probably not. But I think there's at least something everyone can enjoy. It's a sports movie with a little bit of romance, comedy, and plenty of heart. So even if you're not out at your local park pretending to be Jordan or LeBron, there's plenty to be enjoyed here. I found it to be a lot like Tag from a few weeks prior. I didn't necessarily laugh out loud more than a few times (dissimilar to what my audience did at the theater), but I found myself connected to these ridiculous characters and smiling along with this wild ride. Reggie Miller and Chris Webber were surprisingly tolerable as actors, and actually pretty funny at times. Kyrie Irving did his best to co-lead a film in which he's in makeup that's "supposed to" age him 60+ years. And of course there's Shaq, who certainly improves upon the last movie I remember him leading, Kazaam. But the film only works if you buy into Lil Rey Howery as Dax, a down on his luck basketball coach who just wants to win the Rucker Park tournament one year. I could do without the Tiffany Haddish storyline, which felt like something out of a lame sitcom, but I bought into his failed basketball career and his aspirations to coach a champion. Sure, you know exactly where the film is going, but if the film succeeds in telling the story it wants to tell, it doesn't necessarily matter the route it took to get there.

6.9/10.