Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In On UNCLE DREW

After draining his life savings to enter a team in the Rucker Classic street ball tournament in Harlem, Dax (Lil Rel Howery) is dealt a series of unfortunate setbacks, including losing his team to his longtime rival (Nick Kroll). Desperate to win the tournament and the cash prize, Dax stumbles upon the man, the myth, the legend UNCLE DREW (NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving) and convinces him to return to the court one more time. The two men embark on a road trip to round up Drew's old basketball squad (Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie) and prove that a group of septuagenarians can still win the big one.

The film hits theaters today, so lets see what the critics are saying:

John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter: "Anyone who's seen an underdog sports film can write the rest of this picture, and Longino sees no need to reinvent the wheel, presumably accepting that the main reason we're here is to see these creaking old dudes teach the young bloods a thing or two. The athletes, especially Irving, handle their off-the-court scenes better than one might expect - though it's easy to be generous about a non-thesp's acting when he's under such cumbersome makeup. When the tournament begins, Stone plays things like a Harlem Globetrotters game, letting the unfortunate opposing teams be just good enough to show off the stars' talents. (Robinson is especially fun to watch, making tricky shots while wearing a Frederick Douglass meets lightsocket wig that emphasizes how much shorter he is than everyone else.)"

Keith Watson, Slant: "Uncle Drew suffers from spotty pacing, getting needlessly bogged down in pointless sentimental subplots while oddly blazing through much of the Rucker Classic in a series of quick montages. But if it's hardly a model of clockwork-like comedic construction, the film at least gives its performers plenty of space to let loose, which is a smart move considering the supporting cast is packed with comedy ringers like Nick Kroll, J.B. Smoove, and Tiffany Haddish, each of whom get the chance to blow some life into a wispy role. Kroll even manages to garner a laugh out of the film's ubiquitous product placement, offering an out-of-the-blue shout-out to "Aleve, the number one pain killer in the game right now!" Given its main character's origins in a series of viral videos sponsored by Pepsi Max, perhaps it's appropriate that even the advertisements in Uncle Drew manage to be charming."

Katie Walsh, LA Times: "Lil Rel Howery, who played everyone's favorite TSA agent in "Get Out," easily transitions from SIDEKICK to leading man as Dax. He's a basketball fan who dreams of running the court at the legendary blacktop tournament Rucker Classic in Harlem. (The $100,000 prize is also tempting.) Dax stays on the sidelines, coaching, still smarting from a wicked block laid down by his rival, Mookie (an off-the-wall Nick Kroll), as a youth."

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: "I honestly wish Uncle Drew didn't wind up citing the same metaphorical Hallmark-card quote that the recent comedy Tag just did ("You don't stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing"). But Stone's film was never going to be a movie that people walked out of praising it for originality. You more or less know what this soft-drink-sponsored movie is going to be as soon as the lights start to dim. What makes it worth recommending is that it ends up being just slightly more than that by the time the lights come back on. "

Sam Fragoso, The Wrap: "

This journey to cobble together the old squad should be more fun that it is. Although you could say that about most of "Uncle Drew." The onus is less on the performances; each former player holds his/her own. Miller especially gets some mileage out of his character, a three-point specialist who's legally blind and can't help but make comical facial reactions. Irving is solid in the title role; his down-to-earth, low-key energy sometimes turns somnambulant. He's not a splashy performer, but he's also not an incompetent one. Given the workload, he manages to not embarrass himself, which is an accomplishment for anyone in a feature film, let alone someone with no dramatic training."

Image courtesy of Uncle Drew official Facebook

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