Starring Ice Cube, Keke Palmer. Written by Nick Santora, Dough Atichison. Directed by Fred Durst. (PG) 95 min. Opens Aug 22.
Tattoo sleeves, a potty mouth and marketing savvy brought Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst to brief fame but directing family flicks seems to be his hope to sustain a career. Borrowing Disney’s for-TV formula, Durst tells the true story of shy, 11-year-old Jasmine Plummer (Keke Palmer), the first female quarterback in Pop Warner Super Bowl history. Thanks to down-on-his-luck Uncle Curtis (Ice Cube), Jasmine discovers that her inherited knack for handling genuine leather will not only drive her to the top, it will bring together a community.
Durst doesn’t accomplish much with this familiar plotline and he doesn’t distinguish himself as a director, but, in this family-night special is no worse than anything else in the duffle-bag load of sportsmanship dramas we’ve already seen and forgotten about. Still, maybe another hookup with Britney Spears would be a sturdier launch back into the limelight?