Review of Uncle Drew

Uncle Drew (2018)
"You don't quit playing because you're too old, you get too old because you quit playing."
5 December 2018
I watched this at home on BluRay from my public library. I saved my wife the pain.

The premise is funny, a hustler loses his prize player and has to recruit basketball players to compete in the annual street basketball competition in Harlem. It is the movie version of the short "Uncle Drew" skits, most as Pepsi commercials. In them pro basketball player Kyrie Irving is dressed up as elderly Uncle Drew who crashes pickup games then proceeds to show up all the young hot shots to the amusement of the spectators.

Irving is very good in his role, both on the court and in the role of Uncle Drew. Shaq O'Neal is also good, in fact all the pro players are good. But the script is overly silly and annoying most of the time. In fact the first 10 to 15 minutes are mostly unbearable. Then it picks up when Uncle Drew makes an appearance.

The story involves a road trip, and one location is New Orleans, very recognizable, although the IMDb doesn't include it as a filming location. The short sequences of the "old guys" playing basketball are interesting, but most of the filler scenes are silly and uninteresting. However a few of the jokes are funny. Too many characters are overly annoying.

Not a particularly good movie.
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