It doesn’t take long to realize that The Underdoggs isn’t your typical sports movie. Yes, the premise lends itself to comparisons with classics like The Bad News Bears and The Mighty Ducks as a washed up player — in this case Jaycen Jennings (Snoop Dogg) — takes on the mantle of coach for a ragtag players.
(Warning: spoilers for The Underdoggs follow.)
But this story has just a little something different, and I’m not just talking about the swearing (which there’s a lot of). The heart and soul of The Underdoggs lives with its lead. This is a passion project of Snoop Dogg’s, and it’s one that clearly means a lot to him.
Although we follow Jennings’s journey from potential jail time to youth coach as he evolves from selfish to selfless, it’s really a tale of the Snoop Youth Football League. Established in 2005 by the multifaceted rapper, artist and actor, the Snoop Youth Football League has since helped over 85,000 youths in his hometown of Long Beach, California.
Snoop Dogg’s emotion is evident when he talks about the importance of this project to him. He’s grateful not only that it got made, but that others would so readily sign up to turn this dream into a reality.
“It feels good, because I don’t think people understand how much I care about coaching, and I don’t think they understand how much I care about these kids.” Snoop Dogg told For The Win in a recent interview. “It means a lot, people accepting it, people wanting to do it, the movie company wanting to shoot it, the actors signed on.
“I get emotional behind that because to believe in me, like, I was an underdog. I am the underdog. I’m the underdog turned wonder-dog.”
Featuring supporting actors like Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps, George Lopez and Kal Penn, The Underdoggs sees Jennings take on a youth team featuring big personalities and headstrong attitudes. The six main youth players — Tre (Jonigan Booth), Dwayne (Caleb CM Dixon), Tony (Adan James Carrillo), Gary (Alexander Michael Gordon), Bale (Shamori Washington) and Ghost (Kylah Davila) — were fantastic.
Although there are clunky moments and some over-the-top hijinks, you’ll likely find yourself a little emotional at the end. You want these kids to succeed. To taste victory. To knock the smug mustache off the face of the opposing coach (comedian Andrew Schulz playing a sports media talking head).
But after almost 90 minutes of watching The Underdoggs, you realize they don’t have to win, as cheesy as that sounds. They’ve already done that. As Snoop says in the movie:
“America loves an underdog. The slept on. The little guy. The one no one believes can achieve greatness. But you know what they love more? Nothin’. Because watching underdogs win is some inspiring [expletive]. But watching them lose in devastating fashion? Well that [expletive] turns out to be even more inspiring.”
The Underdoggs is streaming on Prime Video now.