Starring: D.B Sweeney, William Mapother, Richard Portnow, Logan Huffman
Director: Doug Dearth
A small division 4 school with a losing record gets a new coach who teaches them to believe in themselves, this is the foundation which many threads are built upon
What underdogs has going for it, is that I am a sucker for a clichéd sports movie and that’s where it’s high water mark is, giving you not just one but a multitude of underdogs all fighting to beat the odds. The star quarterback (Logan Huffman) is in love with a rival school’s cheerleader (Maddie Hasson) while his father (William Mapother) tries to launch his invention (The real life EdenPure space heater) and battle his former employer (Richard Portnow) in court for the rights to his invention. The former employer’s son (Charlie Carver) also happens to be the quarterback of Hoover the rival school. New recruits are brought to the team, one battling a past that involves Juvenile detention and his picked on little cousin, while another recruit has a slight problem with being able to catch a ball. Even the new head coach (D.B Sweeney) is rebuilding his life after years of alcohol abuse derailed his coaching career. It’s nice to see DB Sweeney play the hard Ass coach if only he had the Pamchenko Twist in his playbook.
While this sounds like way to many threads to follow it’s all tied up in a bow as only a film titled underdogs can. Which is both underdogs blessing and its curse. The film isn’t titled Favorites so to say there is sort of a predetermined destiny for everyone in the film is an understatement.
All of the underdogs are good people you want to root for against their stereo typical foils, even if you know the ending of the film before you even see it.
In today’s society it’s not the popular choice to root for the good guy, with no antihero to be found Underdogs offers no other alternative. The question is do you root for one? Do you root for them all? You have almost too many options of who to root for.
Grade – 70
