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BY MAGGIE SCOTT

How many people know a town like Minden, Illinois, in the new family drama, The Longshots, where the get-up-and-go got up and went years ago? Where jobs moved out and people moved on to better lives somewhere else, leaving behind people like Curtis (Ice Cube), stuck at a losing moment in their lives when the bootstraps broke?

Curtis tore out his knee and tore down something good he had built on the football field at Minden High School. Until the factory moved out, Curtis moved up for a while after that. Now, he’s saving his odd job money for a sunny day in Florida in his “Git Outta Minden Fund.” Curtis would be the last to admit that he’s got the “brain and heart” to do something about the tough times the preacher wants his flock to believe can get better if they “concentrate on what they have, not what they don’t have.”

What Curtis has is a niece struggling to see a purpose in life. Jasmine (Keke Palmer) is dealing with rejection at school and insecurity at home. Mom is picking up extra hours at the diner and some kids are picking on the quiet girl who is beginning to believe everyone “thinks I’m an idiot.”

Since Jasmine refuses to get involved in after-school activities, Mom pleads with Curtis for help keeping an eye on her. For five dollars an hour all Curtis is willing to do is “watch” Jasmine. Besides, she’s “too weird and moody” for him to put much more of an effort into what he has no idea is going to be the turning point in not just his and Jasmine’s lives, but the life of their community, as well.

During one of their just-get-me-through-this-babysitting sessions, Curtis asks Jasmine to toss back the football he’s always carrying. She does, and a light goes off. Is it possible? Did she inherit the talent her dad and Curtis had when they were teens? At first, it’s “whatever” when Curtis challenges her to try a few drills. She’s got the grip, she’s got the arm, she’s got the target when Curtis puts his hands up to catch that perfectly spiraling pigskin. Could it be?

Could she possibly be the answer to the question the coach (Matt Craven) is asking about whether this year’s team is going to win any games? Curtis won’t listen to Jasmine insisting she’s going to be a model and models don’t play football. Striking a bargain that involves him buying her fashion magazines and him asking Jasmine’s teacher out on a date if Jasmine will just go to the team try outs— uncle and niece unite to tackle whatever obstacles a skeptical coach and taunting teammates toss at the girl who’s got the best personal trainer and loudest cheerleader to get her to the goal line.

Whatever Hallmark Hall of Fame clichés this underdog-makes-great melodrama is guilty of, it’s impossible to dismiss the inspirational power of the various messages it has about facing the past moving on from mistakes and losses and moving towards the future built on authentic self and honest vision. Kudos to those who have shared Jasmine’s story with us in this winning film.

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