Rent Uncle Drew (2018)

Uncle Drew review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Even though there are only five basketball players assembled, part of me wants to look at Uncle Drew as The Seven Samurai of basketball. It certainly has the makings of that familiar story. One struggling basketball coach, Dax (Lil Rel Howery), needs a team to compete in the Rucker Classic tournament. He is cast aside by his team, drowning in debt, and his girlfriend leaves him for the sinister coach, Mookie Bass (Nick Kroll). But where to find a team that’s good enough to compete?

Legend around the street, and sports documentaries, speaks of the basketball god Uncle Drew. His skills were legendary enough to win the old Rucker tournament, dunking balls while eating a ham sandwich at the same time. But then he vanished from the public eye. Only when Dax goes searching that he happens upon the old man, played by the young Kyrie Irving in old-man makeup. Shockingly, Uncle Drew can still play ball on the streets like nobody’s business. He may still use 8-tracks in his car and be unaware of Google but he’ll more than do for what Dax is looking for.

Before the tournament, Drew and Dax go on a road trip to regroup Drew’s old streetball gang for one last tournament win. And they’re a lot of fun to meet. Chris Webber plays a loud and eccentric minister, more than willing to take off when his furious wife is after him. Reggie Miller acts as the mute man in a wheelchair, only talking when words must be spoken and only getting up when it’s time to show off on the court or dance floor. But the most unique of them all is Shaquille O'Neal, now running a martial arts dojo where he trains kids. I gotta be honest; after seeing Shaq with white hair and in a gi, I seriously want to see Shaq in a martial arts movie. Maybe adapt the video game Shaq Fu?

Even without my desperate attempt to relate the picture to my favorite Akira Kurosawa film, Uncle Drew is nothing new. The story goes about itself with easy gags on old fellows (most of which are fairly young guys pretending to be older), decently shot basketball bits, and sentimental moments about believing in yourself and not worrying about the shot you didn’t take. Fighting off the boredom of this premise is the great casting. Kyrie Irving takes a bit of getting use to but he eventually eases enough into the role of Uncle Drew. Reggie Miller is fun to watch in his understated expressions, letting his very presence say more than any scripted joke could. Shaq, of course, is always fun to watch, especially for a scene in a hospital while he shuffles in frustration around a hospital, asking to watch the tournament on a TV.

I was never entirely bored with Uncle Drew, despite never being all that engaged in the world of streetball. Dax’s ex-romance is cartoonish, as is his latest girl he meets while assembling the Uncle Drew gang. Kroll has some great bits but his insane mind games are only hilarious for so many scenes. Still, they’re all fun characters and prove to make the familiar motions have a little smoother delivery, despite some of the improv lines not hitting as well as they should. Yes, there are bloopers for these scenes in the credits as well because you never know what deleted gem might have been ruined by a smirk. There is one hilarious line I loved hearing out of Shaq’s mouth; “I’ve come a long ways from Kazaam.” He seems like such a fun actor to work with and I hope that Shaq martial arts picture is coming soon.