Snoop Dogg doesn’t seem to say ‘no’ often these days. If there’s a product, service, or piece of entertainment, for the right price, he’ll promote it. He is arguably America’s top pitchman. It’s quite a late-career shift for a guy who used to be the leading hip-hop voice of a generation.
Snoop Dogg has something new to sell: Amazon Prime Video’s The Underdoggs. He stars in and is a producer for a sports comedy inspired by his California-based Snoop Youth Football League. According to its website, the non-profit organization was founded in 2005 to “provide the opportunity for inner-city children to participate in youth football.”
The decision to make a movie out of this passion project is curious. It’s an even more daring choice to make a movie about kids, featuring kids that is NOT for kids. Don’t let the trailer fool you. The Underdoggs makes it clear that this is adult fare with a hilarious opening disclaimer.
Brace yourself for a foul-mouthed feature that curses so much that it seems hellbent on breaking The Wolf of Wall Street‘s unofficial record for swear words. This is not a criticism. Just FYI.
In The Underdoggs, Snoop Dogg plays a troubled former pro football star who runs afoul of the law. As part of his court-mandated community service, he must coach a pee wee football team in his hometown of Long Beach, California.
Jaycen “Two Js” Jennings is essentially an exaggerated version of Snoop Dogg’s persona. Everything he says and does sounds familiar. There is little about his performance that will surprise you. When The Underdoggs is at its best, it comes across as a satire. There is a solid spoof of hot-take sports culture, and the scenes of Jennings recording a podcast are reminiscent of Eastbound & Down’s Kenny Powers listening to his self-help audiobook.
The Underdoggs also has heart. One of the best scenes shows a subdued Snoop Dogg and one of his players discussing poverty inside his car. It’s a sobering and realistic conversation. If there were more moving and funny moments, this sports comedy could have been a triumph.
Instead, we get a largely predictable narrative. Jennings is a self-absorbed athlete with a heart of gold who gets the routine third-act epiphany and realizes what matters most. For most Snoop Dogg fans, that will suffice. Just don’t expect anything more.
For those who are not huge Snoop Dogg fans, the sheer volume of curse words—both by the kids and Jennings at the kids—might be alarming. It also feels gratuitous. After a while, the swearing is just filler for where jokes should have been.
The Underdoggs isn’t subtle. Not when it comes to language and not when it comes to product placement. There are smoother ways to show off products in films. But Snoop Dogg and director Charles Stone III would rather make it as obvious as possible with nods to a cereal, furniture store, and fast-food chain.
But perhaps that is exactly how you become America’s pitchman. You put goods and services right in front of the camera. If that doesn’t work, so be it. There will always be something else to sell.
