The Longest Yard (2005)

     Paul Crewe is an NFL quarterback who is known for "shaving points" in an important game. One night after drinking and an argument with his girlfriend, he locks her in the closet and decides to take her sports car out for a joy ride, bringing along more beers for the drive. After a long police chase and a lot of destruction, Crewe is arrested and sentenced to a federal prison in Texas. The Warden of the prison blackmails Crewe by giving him an ultimatum: Either he helps the prison guards' football team or he gets framed for an extra five years in prison. Crewe agrees to help, and he is asked to get a team of inmates together for the guards to play as a warm-up game. Two fellow inmates agree to help crew assemble the team. Nate, who is an old, former college star, agrees to coach the team. The other is Caretaker, who knows basically all of the inmates and would help recruit players. At first, the team is very sloppy and unorganized and Crewe realizes he will need more talent if they hope to have any chance against the guards. After he proves his worth to the extremely athletic prisoners at the basketball courts, they eventually come around and decide to join the team. The guards, seeing that the prisoners are improving, and actually may stand a chance now, try to kill the prisoners' morale by having their inside informer rig Caretaker's cell with a bomb. The bomb takes Caretaker's life and devastates the prisoners. But instead of killing their morale, it actually boosts it and gives them an even bigger motive to beat the guards in the game. The prisoners decide to start playing dirty as well and sabotage some of the guards' equipment and belongings before the big game. Once the game begins, the guards quickly get off to a large lead, because most of the inmates' only concern is to attack their least favorite guards. Crewe quickly rallies his men and makes the game close by halftime. During the break, the warden informs Crewe that if he doesn't throw the game, he will pin Caretaker's murder on Crewe, leaving him in jail for basically the rest of his life. At first, Crewe begins throwing the game, but realizes that he'd rather win with his teammates and remain in jail than live with himself after throwing another big game. He explains to his teammates why he was throwing the game earlier, and they eventually come around, rally together, and win the game.

     The production crew did a great job with this film. I especially enjoyed the in-game action scenes throughout the movie. The shaky, handheld cam style made the audience feel as if they were on the field as well. The car chase scene at the beginning also was done very well, with quick cuts and various angles of the chase. This kept the level of intensity even throughout the entire scene, keeping the audience engaged. The use of sound gave a new meaning to each scene, such as when it went silent as all of the inmates ran up to Caretaker's burning cell. The score of the film, as in any good sports movie, matched the mood of each scene, heightening the emotion of the moment.