[yasr_overall_rating]
Desperate to win the Rucker Classic streetball 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.
In the opening scenes, Jess (Tiffany Haddish) plays the role of too much lady for any man as she attempts to convince her boyfriend Dax (Lil Rel Howery) that he has to up his game in order to keep up with her and with life in general. After losing his basketball team to his rival Mookie (Nick Kroll), Dax puts the remainder of his life savings into recruiting a new team for the Rucker Classic Basketball tournament with a $100,000 prize. While he blows off advice to check out has-been standout Uncle Drew, he soon realizes that it may be his only option. Once he gets on board with the idea, he has to relinquish control to Uncle Drew to recruit the other members of the team. The storyline begins to shape up as Dax faces many obstacles in dealing with an aging crew that has a tremendous amount of physical and emotional baggage to overcome. At the same time, Dax loses his girl to Nick, the same rival that he lost his original team to.
“Uncle Drew” starts out in a slow-moving pattern of uncertainty and ends up becoming a serious laugh-fest that the entire family can enjoy and relate to. The all-star cast of comedians and sports figures lends itself to a myriad of situations that allow us to see the best and worst in a group of has-beens that come back strong as they, through each other, discover their true purpose in life. The dribbling reality of aging brings the entire team full-circle as they cope with the past relationships with one another that lead to various paths of destruction.
The history behind the making of “Uncle Drew” goes back six years to a Pepsi commercial in a Miami High School gym, where Kyrie Irving was chosen as a last-minute replacement for the role of a football player. As the cameras starting rolling, Irving morphed into the Uncle Drew character, knocking the socks off of the producers, so much so, the project turned into documented shorts which eventually became a movie where other sports talent was recruited, along with comedians who fit naturally into the storyline. Director Charles Stone III did an excellent job in bringing these characters to life while highlighting individual weaknesses that together made for a strong team. Rounding out the talented team is Lil Rel Howery, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie, JB Smoove, Mike Epps, and Nick Kroll.
While this may not appear to be a major summer blockbuster, it is indeed hilarious comic relief that goes a long way in tempering down a long, hot and stressful summer. The opportunity to see these sports figures in another light being transformed and humanized by both their selfishness and generosity is priceless. The bottom line is that the lessons displayed throughout this film are both timely and relative to building strong relationships both on and off the court and last, but certainly not least, it’s funny as hell!
Available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, & On Demand Sep. 25th
