Exclusive: The Longest Yard is getting another set of downs.
Deadline hears that another remake of the film, which originally starred Burt Reynolds in 1974 and was remade starring Adam Sandler in 2005, is in the works at Paramount Pictures. Rodney Barnes, who was an exec producer and writer on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, is writing.
It comes from Gunpowder & Sky, whose CEO Van Toffler was an exec producer on the 2005 version when he worked at then-MTV owner Viacom. Toffler is producing with former MTV Films boss David Gale, who reunited with Toffler at Gunpowder & Sky and who also exec produced the Sandler version.
The Longest Yard is a prison sports comedy film.
‘The Longest Yard,’ 1974
The 1974 original was based on a story by Al Ruddy, directed by Robert Aldrich and written by Tracy Keenan Wynn. It starred Reynolds as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, a...
Deadline hears that another remake of the film, which originally starred Burt Reynolds in 1974 and was remade starring Adam Sandler in 2005, is in the works at Paramount Pictures. Rodney Barnes, who was an exec producer and writer on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, is writing.
It comes from Gunpowder & Sky, whose CEO Van Toffler was an exec producer on the 2005 version when he worked at then-MTV owner Viacom. Toffler is producing with former MTV Films boss David Gale, who reunited with Toffler at Gunpowder & Sky and who also exec produced the Sandler version.
The Longest Yard is a prison sports comedy film.
‘The Longest Yard,’ 1974
The 1974 original was based on a story by Al Ruddy, directed by Robert Aldrich and written by Tracy Keenan Wynn. It starred Reynolds as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, a...
- 11/6/2023
- by Peter White and Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The “made for television movie” began in the 1960s. In fact, one of the most famous TV movies Don Siegel’s 1964 version of “The Killers” featuring Ronald Reagan in his last film role as a ruthless villain, ended up being released theatrically because it was considered too violent for television.
But the genre came of age in the 1970s.
Some of these movies that aired on the three broadcast networks were sheer shlock and others were pilots for prospective TV series. But it was also an embarrassment of riches. Who could forget the beloved 1971 ABC biopic “Brian’s Song,” starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, which was nominated for 11 Emmys and won five including outstanding single program (drama or comedy). The four-hankie weepie was so popular it was released theatrically.
Also briefly released theatrically was Steven Spielberg’s pulsating 1971 classic “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver which aired on ABC. Considered one...
But the genre came of age in the 1970s.
Some of these movies that aired on the three broadcast networks were sheer shlock and others were pilots for prospective TV series. But it was also an embarrassment of riches. Who could forget the beloved 1971 ABC biopic “Brian’s Song,” starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, which was nominated for 11 Emmys and won five including outstanding single program (drama or comedy). The four-hankie weepie was so popular it was released theatrically.
Also briefly released theatrically was Steven Spielberg’s pulsating 1971 classic “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver which aired on ABC. Considered one...
- 8/15/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
John Korty, who directed the Emmy-winning The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and the Oscar-winning documentary Who Are the DeBolts? and Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?, died March 9 at his home in Marin County, CA. He was 85.
His death was first reported in the Marin Independent Journal.
One of the premiere directors during the made-for-tv movie heyday that began in the early 1970s, Korty helmed the sci-fi chiller The People (1972), the anti-drug drama Go Ask Alice (1973) and, in 1980, the holiday tale A Christmas Without Snow.
His greatest television achievement came in 1974, when he directed Cicely Tyson in the celebrated CBS movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Based on the 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines, the film told the story of a Black woman who, in 1962 at the age of 110, narrates her life story that began in slavery in the American South. Although works of fiction, both the novel...
His death was first reported in the Marin Independent Journal.
One of the premiere directors during the made-for-tv movie heyday that began in the early 1970s, Korty helmed the sci-fi chiller The People (1972), the anti-drug drama Go Ask Alice (1973) and, in 1980, the holiday tale A Christmas Without Snow.
His greatest television achievement came in 1974, when he directed Cicely Tyson in the celebrated CBS movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Based on the 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines, the film told the story of a Black woman who, in 1962 at the age of 110, narrates her life story that began in slavery in the American South. Although works of fiction, both the novel...
- 3/17/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The television landscape was changing when the 23rd Emmy Awards took place at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on May 9, 1971, with Johnny Carson as host. History was made in more than one way that night.
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
- 8/27/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Peter Benchley’s follow-up to Jaws is a treasure hunt thriller starring Robert Shaw and filmed in the pearly waters off Bermuda. The exciting underwater scenes boosted the careers of Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset but the memory that stuck in the minds of millions was a particular wardrobe decision for Bisset’s siren of the deep. Who needs Spanish gold and a fortune in lost morphine? This import disc features a commentary by actress Illeana Douglas.
The Deep
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 28
1977 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date December 30, 2020 / Available from Viavision / 34.95
Starring: Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Louis Gossett, Eli Wallach, Robert Tessier.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Underwater Director: Al Giddings
Film Editor: David Berlatsky
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Peter Benchley from his novel
Produced by Peter Guber
Directed by Peter Yates
After a couple of early 1970s shows that became enormous blockbusters —Love Story,...
The Deep
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 28
1977 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date December 30, 2020 / Available from Viavision / 34.95
Starring: Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Louis Gossett, Eli Wallach, Robert Tessier.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Underwater Director: Al Giddings
Film Editor: David Berlatsky
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Peter Benchley from his novel
Produced by Peter Guber
Directed by Peter Yates
After a couple of early 1970s shows that became enormous blockbusters —Love Story,...
- 2/13/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
- 12/21/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
- 12/21/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
‘Harper Days Are Here Again,’ reads the advertising tag line for this worthy follow-up to Paul Newman’s first outing as Ross Macdonald’s jaded private eye. The movie is certainly worthy, but how did the producers let the terrific song Killing Me Softly with His Song get away?
The Drowning Pool
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date February 27, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith, Linda Haynes, Richard Jaeckel.
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Film Editor: John C. Howard
Production Design: Paul Sylbert
Original Music: Michael Small
Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Walter Hill from the novel by Ross Macdonald
Produced by David Foster, Lawrence Turman
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Looking to make lightning strike twice, Paul Newman returned to his Lew Harper character in another adaptation of a Ross Macdonald tale. The star handles it very well,...
The Drowning Pool
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date February 27, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith, Linda Haynes, Richard Jaeckel.
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Film Editor: John C. Howard
Production Design: Paul Sylbert
Original Music: Michael Small
Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Walter Hill from the novel by Ross Macdonald
Produced by David Foster, Lawrence Turman
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Looking to make lightning strike twice, Paul Newman returned to his Lew Harper character in another adaptation of a Ross Macdonald tale. The star handles it very well,...
- 3/13/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
If lawsuits, like fine wine, get better with age, this batch should be a doozy.
About 150 veteran TV writers continue their long slog toward the courtroom, with depositions in a 7-year-old age-discrimination case expected to finally commence this spring. Details of the long-on-the-vine litigation have taken so long to untangle that 10 or more plaintiffs have died since it was filed.
There was a big development in the case recently, when 70,000 mailings went out to former and current WGA members and their beneficiaries. The mailings -- targeting possibly no more than 40,000 individuals, using multiple addresses for many -- relates to a recent request for information on guild members' residual payments and health benefit files.
Case research and documentation have continued since the case was first filed in October 2000 as a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Yet only recently has an actual discovery process commenced, with plaintiff attorneys diverted for years by a thicket of defendants' motions.
First, defendants succeeded in getting the federal suit dismissed, and when 23 related suits were filed in the local Superior Court seeking class-action status, the actions were contested aggressively by defendants' attorneys. Appeals rose to the state Supreme Court, which refused to hear the defendants' appeal, and the suits were reinstated in Superior Court in January 2005.
The suits seek unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the TV writers, who claim that they can't get work in Hollywood because of their ages. It names as defendants the major studios, TV networks and talent agencies.
The proposed class action would cover 150 plaintiff writers, including such veterans of classic television as Burt Prelutsky ("Newhart", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and Tracy Keenan Wynn ("The Net", "The Quest"). About 60 "lead plaintiffs" are expected to figure most prominently in the imminent deposition process and potentially any trial.
About 150 veteran TV writers continue their long slog toward the courtroom, with depositions in a 7-year-old age-discrimination case expected to finally commence this spring. Details of the long-on-the-vine litigation have taken so long to untangle that 10 or more plaintiffs have died since it was filed.
There was a big development in the case recently, when 70,000 mailings went out to former and current WGA members and their beneficiaries. The mailings -- targeting possibly no more than 40,000 individuals, using multiple addresses for many -- relates to a recent request for information on guild members' residual payments and health benefit files.
Case research and documentation have continued since the case was first filed in October 2000 as a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Yet only recently has an actual discovery process commenced, with plaintiff attorneys diverted for years by a thicket of defendants' motions.
First, defendants succeeded in getting the federal suit dismissed, and when 23 related suits were filed in the local Superior Court seeking class-action status, the actions were contested aggressively by defendants' attorneys. Appeals rose to the state Supreme Court, which refused to hear the defendants' appeal, and the suits were reinstated in Superior Court in January 2005.
The suits seek unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the TV writers, who claim that they can't get work in Hollywood because of their ages. It names as defendants the major studios, TV networks and talent agencies.
The proposed class action would cover 150 plaintiff writers, including such veterans of classic television as Burt Prelutsky ("Newhart", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and Tracy Keenan Wynn ("The Net", "The Quest"). About 60 "lead plaintiffs" are expected to figure most prominently in the imminent deposition process and potentially any trial.
- 3/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If lawsuits, like fine wine, get better with age, this batch should be a doozy.
About 150 veteran TV writers continue their long slog toward the courtroom, with depositions in a 7-year-old age-discrimination case expected to finally commence this spring. Details of the long-on-the-vine litigation have taken so long to untangle that 10 or more plaintiffs have died since it was filed.
There was a big development in the case recently, when 70,000 mailings went out to former and current WGA members and their beneficiaries. The mailings -- targeting possibly no more than 40,000 individuals, using multiple addresses for many -- relates to a recent request for information on guild members' residual payments and health benefit files.
Case research and documentation have continued since the case was first filed in October 2000 as a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Yet only recently has an actual discovery process commenced, with plaintiff attorneys diverted for years by a thicket of defendants' motions.
First, defendants succeeded in getting the federal suit dismissed, and when 23 related suits were filed in the local Superior Court seeking class-action status, the actions were contested aggressively by defendants' attorneys. Appeals rose to the state Supreme Court, which refused to hear the defendants' appeal, and the suits were reinstated in Superior Court in January 2005.
The suits seek unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the TV writers, who claim that they can't get work in Hollywood because of their ages. It names as defendants the major studios, TV networks and talent agencies.
The proposed class action would cover 150 plaintiff writers, including such veterans of classic television as Burt Prelutsky ("Newhart", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and Tracy Keenan Wynn ("The Net", "The Quest"). About 60 "lead plaintiffs" are expected to figure most prominently in the imminent deposition process and potentially any trial.
About 150 veteran TV writers continue their long slog toward the courtroom, with depositions in a 7-year-old age-discrimination case expected to finally commence this spring. Details of the long-on-the-vine litigation have taken so long to untangle that 10 or more plaintiffs have died since it was filed.
There was a big development in the case recently, when 70,000 mailings went out to former and current WGA members and their beneficiaries. The mailings -- targeting possibly no more than 40,000 individuals, using multiple addresses for many -- relates to a recent request for information on guild members' residual payments and health benefit files.
Case research and documentation have continued since the case was first filed in October 2000 as a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Yet only recently has an actual discovery process commenced, with plaintiff attorneys diverted for years by a thicket of defendants' motions.
First, defendants succeeded in getting the federal suit dismissed, and when 23 related suits were filed in the local Superior Court seeking class-action status, the actions were contested aggressively by defendants' attorneys. Appeals rose to the state Supreme Court, which refused to hear the defendants' appeal, and the suits were reinstated in Superior Court in January 2005.
The suits seek unspecified monetary damages on behalf of the TV writers, who claim that they can't get work in Hollywood because of their ages. It names as defendants the major studios, TV networks and talent agencies.
The proposed class action would cover 150 plaintiff writers, including such veterans of classic television as Burt Prelutsky ("Newhart", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and Tracy Keenan Wynn ("The Net", "The Quest"). About 60 "lead plaintiffs" are expected to figure most prominently in the imminent deposition process and potentially any trial.
- 3/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A surprisingly faithful remake of the well-regarded 1974 prison pigskin movie, The Longest Yard trades Burt Reynolds for Adam Sandler and goes for the broader attack with generally pleasing results.
First, however, you have to be willing to buy Sandler as a former pro football player -- an MVP no less -- and while he's been convincing in the past as a waterboy and even a hockey player turned-golfer, this one's a taller order.
Get beyond that, and you'll likely be amused by this genial action comedy, even as you're reminded how perfectly cast the top-of-his-game Reynolds was in the Robert Aldrich-directed original.
For Sandler fans who haven't exactly been thrilled with some of his more grown-up choices of late, like Spanglish, his latest marks a return to the kind of vehicle that scores big points at the boxoffice while still showcasing the comedian in a more mature light.
He manages to get the smart-ass part down cold as Paul Crewe, a washed-up quarterback who was booted from the league for his part in a point-shaving scandal. After a drunken joyride in his demanding girlfriend's (Courteney Cox) Bentley (it was a much cooler Maserati in the original) escalates into a messy police pursuit, Crewe lands in a scary Texas prison.
There, he not only has to contend with taunting inmates who regard point shaving as shamefully un-American, but also a sadistic guard (William Fichtner) and an egotistical warden (James Cromwell ably filling Eddie Albert's shoes), who methodically persuades Crewe to put together a football team made up of his fellow convicts.
With some expert facilitating from Caretaker (Chris Rock, cracking wise) and some seasoned coaching from an old-timer (Reynolds in the Nate Scarborough role), Crewe turns his motley crew into the aptly named Mean Machine, ready to take on the prison guards in a bone-crunching game to end all games.
Collaborating with Sandler once again after 50 First Dates and Anger Management, director Peter Segal works off of a script credited to Sheldon Turner that, more often than not, is a scene-for-scene copy of the original, right down to snatches of dialogue.
While Segal opts for a lighter touch and broader characterizations, the film occasionally struggles to find the right balance between reverence for the Reynolds version and adherence to the Sandler formula, but an agreeable pace and a colorful cast helps smooth out some of those bumps along the way.
Rock's in fine comic form, while hip-hop artist Nelly makes a natural transition to movies as the team's star running back. Taking a cue from the original, a number of the prison guards are played by such real-life gridiron players as Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth, while others are better known from the pro wrestling circuit, including Steve Austin, Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg.
And Sandler's Spanglish co-star Cloris Leachman is a hoot as the warden's oversexed secretary, a part played in the original by a very young Bernadette Peters.
The Longest Yard
Paramount
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures present a Happy Madison/MTV Films production in association with Callahan Filmworks
Credits:
Director: Peter Segal
Screenwriter: Sheldon Turner
Based on the film written by Tracy Keenan Wynn from a story by Albert S. Ruddy
Producer: Jack Giarraputo
Executive producers: Adam Sandler, Van Toffler, David Gale, Barry Bernardi, Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy, Michael Ewing, Albert S. Ruddy
Director of photography: Dean Semler
Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake
Editor: Jeff Gourson
Costume designer: Ellen Lutter
Music: Teddy Castelucci
Cast:
Paul Crewe: Adam Sandler
Caretaker: Chris Rock
Nate Scarborough: Burt Reynolds
Megget: Nelly
Warden Hazen: James Cromwell
Capn. Knauer: William Fichtner
Deacon Moss: Michael Irvin
Guard Lambert: Bill Romanowski
Battle: Bill Goldberg
Guard Garner: Brian Bosworth
Guard Engleheart: Kevin Nash
Guard Dunham: Steve Austin
Lynette: Cloris Leachman
Lena: Courteney Cox
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 114 minutes...
First, however, you have to be willing to buy Sandler as a former pro football player -- an MVP no less -- and while he's been convincing in the past as a waterboy and even a hockey player turned-golfer, this one's a taller order.
Get beyond that, and you'll likely be amused by this genial action comedy, even as you're reminded how perfectly cast the top-of-his-game Reynolds was in the Robert Aldrich-directed original.
For Sandler fans who haven't exactly been thrilled with some of his more grown-up choices of late, like Spanglish, his latest marks a return to the kind of vehicle that scores big points at the boxoffice while still showcasing the comedian in a more mature light.
He manages to get the smart-ass part down cold as Paul Crewe, a washed-up quarterback who was booted from the league for his part in a point-shaving scandal. After a drunken joyride in his demanding girlfriend's (Courteney Cox) Bentley (it was a much cooler Maserati in the original) escalates into a messy police pursuit, Crewe lands in a scary Texas prison.
There, he not only has to contend with taunting inmates who regard point shaving as shamefully un-American, but also a sadistic guard (William Fichtner) and an egotistical warden (James Cromwell ably filling Eddie Albert's shoes), who methodically persuades Crewe to put together a football team made up of his fellow convicts.
With some expert facilitating from Caretaker (Chris Rock, cracking wise) and some seasoned coaching from an old-timer (Reynolds in the Nate Scarborough role), Crewe turns his motley crew into the aptly named Mean Machine, ready to take on the prison guards in a bone-crunching game to end all games.
Collaborating with Sandler once again after 50 First Dates and Anger Management, director Peter Segal works off of a script credited to Sheldon Turner that, more often than not, is a scene-for-scene copy of the original, right down to snatches of dialogue.
While Segal opts for a lighter touch and broader characterizations, the film occasionally struggles to find the right balance between reverence for the Reynolds version and adherence to the Sandler formula, but an agreeable pace and a colorful cast helps smooth out some of those bumps along the way.
Rock's in fine comic form, while hip-hop artist Nelly makes a natural transition to movies as the team's star running back. Taking a cue from the original, a number of the prison guards are played by such real-life gridiron players as Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth, while others are better known from the pro wrestling circuit, including Steve Austin, Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg.
And Sandler's Spanglish co-star Cloris Leachman is a hoot as the warden's oversexed secretary, a part played in the original by a very young Bernadette Peters.
The Longest Yard
Paramount
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures present a Happy Madison/MTV Films production in association with Callahan Filmworks
Credits:
Director: Peter Segal
Screenwriter: Sheldon Turner
Based on the film written by Tracy Keenan Wynn from a story by Albert S. Ruddy
Producer: Jack Giarraputo
Executive producers: Adam Sandler, Van Toffler, David Gale, Barry Bernardi, Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy, Michael Ewing, Albert S. Ruddy
Director of photography: Dean Semler
Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake
Editor: Jeff Gourson
Costume designer: Ellen Lutter
Music: Teddy Castelucci
Cast:
Paul Crewe: Adam Sandler
Caretaker: Chris Rock
Nate Scarborough: Burt Reynolds
Megget: Nelly
Warden Hazen: James Cromwell
Capn. Knauer: William Fichtner
Deacon Moss: Michael Irvin
Guard Lambert: Bill Romanowski
Battle: Bill Goldberg
Guard Garner: Brian Bosworth
Guard Engleheart: Kevin Nash
Guard Dunham: Steve Austin
Lynette: Cloris Leachman
Lena: Courteney Cox
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 114 minutes...
- 6/21/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A surprisingly faithful remake of the well-regarded 1974 prison pigskin movie, The Longest Yard trades Burt Reynolds for Adam Sandler and goes for the broader attack with generally pleasing results.
First, however, you have to be willing to buy Sandler as a former pro football player -- an MVP no less -- and while he's been convincing in the past as a waterboy and even a hockey player turned-golfer, this one's a taller order.
Get beyond that, and you'll likely be amused by this genial action comedy, even as you're reminded how perfectly cast the top-of-his-game Reynolds was in the Robert Aldrich-directed original.
For Sandler fans who haven't exactly been thrilled with some of his more grown-up choices of late, like Spanglish, his latest marks a return to the kind of vehicle that scores big points at the boxoffice while still showcasing the comedian in a more mature light.
He manages to get the smart-ass part down cold as Paul Crewe, a washed-up quarterback who was booted from the league for his part in a point-shaving scandal. After a drunken joyride in his demanding girlfriend's (Courteney Cox) Bentley (it was a much cooler Maserati in the original) escalates into a messy police pursuit, Crewe lands in a scary Texas prison.
There, he not only has to contend with taunting inmates who regard point shaving as shamefully un-American, but also a sadistic guard (William Fichtner) and an egotistical warden (James Cromwell ably filling Eddie Albert's shoes), who methodically persuades Crewe to put together a football team made up of his fellow convicts.
With some expert facilitating from Caretaker (Chris Rock, cracking wise) and some seasoned coaching from an old-timer (Reynolds in the Nate Scarborough role), Crewe turns his motley crew into the aptly named Mean Machine, ready to take on the prison guards in a bone-crunching game to end all games.
Collaborating with Sandler once again after 50 First Dates and Anger Management, director Peter Segal works off of a script credited to Sheldon Turner that, more often than not, is a scene-for-scene copy of the original, right down to snatches of dialogue.
While Segal opts for a lighter touch and broader characterizations, the film occasionally struggles to find the right balance between reverence for the Reynolds version and adherence to the Sandler formula, but an agreeable pace and a colorful cast helps smooth out some of those bumps along the way.
Rock's in fine comic form, while hip-hop artist Nelly makes a natural transition to movies as the team's star running back. Taking a cue from the original, a number of the prison guards are played by such real-life gridiron players as Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth, while others are better known from the pro wrestling circuit, including Steve Austin, Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg.
And Sandler's Spanglish co-star Cloris Leachman is a hoot as the warden's oversexed secretary, a part played in the original by a very young Bernadette Peters.
The Longest Yard
Paramount
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures present a Happy Madison/MTV Films production in association with Callahan Filmworks
Credits:
Director: Peter Segal
Screenwriter: Sheldon Turner
Based on the film written by Tracy Keenan Wynn from a story by Albert S. Ruddy
Producer: Jack Giarraputo
Executive producers: Adam Sandler, Van Toffler, David Gale, Barry Bernardi, Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy, Michael Ewing, Albert S. Ruddy
Director of photography: Dean Semler
Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake
Editor: Jeff Gourson
Costume designer: Ellen Lutter
Music: Teddy Castelucci
Cast:
Paul Crewe: Adam Sandler
Caretaker: Chris Rock
Nate Scarborough: Burt Reynolds
Megget: Nelly
Warden Hazen: James Cromwell
Capn. Knauer: William Fichtner
Deacon Moss: Michael Irvin
Guard Lambert: Bill Romanowski
Battle: Bill Goldberg
Guard Garner: Brian Bosworth
Guard Engleheart: Kevin Nash
Guard Dunham: Steve Austin
Lynette: Cloris Leachman
Lena: Courteney Cox
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 114 minutes...
First, however, you have to be willing to buy Sandler as a former pro football player -- an MVP no less -- and while he's been convincing in the past as a waterboy and even a hockey player turned-golfer, this one's a taller order.
Get beyond that, and you'll likely be amused by this genial action comedy, even as you're reminded how perfectly cast the top-of-his-game Reynolds was in the Robert Aldrich-directed original.
For Sandler fans who haven't exactly been thrilled with some of his more grown-up choices of late, like Spanglish, his latest marks a return to the kind of vehicle that scores big points at the boxoffice while still showcasing the comedian in a more mature light.
He manages to get the smart-ass part down cold as Paul Crewe, a washed-up quarterback who was booted from the league for his part in a point-shaving scandal. After a drunken joyride in his demanding girlfriend's (Courteney Cox) Bentley (it was a much cooler Maserati in the original) escalates into a messy police pursuit, Crewe lands in a scary Texas prison.
There, he not only has to contend with taunting inmates who regard point shaving as shamefully un-American, but also a sadistic guard (William Fichtner) and an egotistical warden (James Cromwell ably filling Eddie Albert's shoes), who methodically persuades Crewe to put together a football team made up of his fellow convicts.
With some expert facilitating from Caretaker (Chris Rock, cracking wise) and some seasoned coaching from an old-timer (Reynolds in the Nate Scarborough role), Crewe turns his motley crew into the aptly named Mean Machine, ready to take on the prison guards in a bone-crunching game to end all games.
Collaborating with Sandler once again after 50 First Dates and Anger Management, director Peter Segal works off of a script credited to Sheldon Turner that, more often than not, is a scene-for-scene copy of the original, right down to snatches of dialogue.
While Segal opts for a lighter touch and broader characterizations, the film occasionally struggles to find the right balance between reverence for the Reynolds version and adherence to the Sandler formula, but an agreeable pace and a colorful cast helps smooth out some of those bumps along the way.
Rock's in fine comic form, while hip-hop artist Nelly makes a natural transition to movies as the team's star running back. Taking a cue from the original, a number of the prison guards are played by such real-life gridiron players as Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth, while others are better known from the pro wrestling circuit, including Steve Austin, Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg.
And Sandler's Spanglish co-star Cloris Leachman is a hoot as the warden's oversexed secretary, a part played in the original by a very young Bernadette Peters.
The Longest Yard
Paramount
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures present a Happy Madison/MTV Films production in association with Callahan Filmworks
Credits:
Director: Peter Segal
Screenwriter: Sheldon Turner
Based on the film written by Tracy Keenan Wynn from a story by Albert S. Ruddy
Producer: Jack Giarraputo
Executive producers: Adam Sandler, Van Toffler, David Gale, Barry Bernardi, Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy, Michael Ewing, Albert S. Ruddy
Director of photography: Dean Semler
Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake
Editor: Jeff Gourson
Costume designer: Ellen Lutter
Music: Teddy Castelucci
Cast:
Paul Crewe: Adam Sandler
Caretaker: Chris Rock
Nate Scarborough: Burt Reynolds
Megget: Nelly
Warden Hazen: James Cromwell
Capn. Knauer: William Fichtner
Deacon Moss: Michael Irvin
Guard Lambert: Bill Romanowski
Battle: Bill Goldberg
Guard Garner: Brian Bosworth
Guard Engleheart: Kevin Nash
Guard Dunham: Steve Austin
Lynette: Cloris Leachman
Lena: Courteney Cox
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 114 minutes...
- 6/16/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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