Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Raunchy Snoop Dogg comedy has language, sex, drugs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Underdoggs
What's the Story?
In THE UNDERDOGGS, former footballer Jaycen "2 J's" Jennings (Snoop Dogg) is sentenced to community service in his hometown, a place he's never looked back on since he became famous. But now his career is over and he's widely unliked. He sits alone in his mansion smoking weed. When he runs into old flame Cherise (Tika Sumpter), he decides to coach her son's pee wee football team as his community service, but mostly to get close to her again. Burnout high school buddy Kareem (Mike Epps) joins, and Jennings seeks occasional advice from his old coach (George Lopez). What he doesn't realize is that going home might force him to admit where he's come from, and where he belongs.
Is It Any Good?
Everyone loves an underdog story, as this film's characters themselves affirm, but Snoop deliberately buries the heart of his tale under layers of intentionally edgy material. Depending on the viewer, this could result in laughs or teeth gritting. Either way, The Underdoggs does have a positive message deep down, and the story is based on the celebrity rapper's real-life work with youth football teams. It just seems that in this age of ironic self-awareness, Snoop isn't willing to tell his own inspiring story straight. Instead, his writing team has gone whole-hog in the other direction, opting for shock-value humor that sees kids matching adults' rudeness and coarse language and even getting drunk on beer.
But the film isn't all trash talk. There's social commentary, played for comedy, in the setting and characterizations, like the friend who knows he can't get a job because of his face tattoos or the boy who doesn't want anyone to know he lives in a trailer park. There is also community pride and some funny throwaways designed to entertain Snoop fans, including jokes about real-life buddy Martha Stewart or his "Black Princess Leia" braids. A happy ending doesn't tie things up too neatly -- rightly so, to match the rest of the film's scrappiness. Ultimately Snoop's character figures out that no man is an island, no matter how massive his mansion, and real identity and joy come from belonging. It's a universal message wrapped in a package with limited appeal.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the unabashed swearing in The Underdoggs. Does the trash talk feel realistic, even in the kids? How would the film have changed if the language had been toned down?
The film is inspired in Snoop Dogg's own work with youth football teams. Where could you find more information about this?
What lessons does Jennings learn in the process of coaching the team? What are some of the lessons the kids learn?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 26, 2024
- Cast : Snoop Dogg , Tika Sumpter , Mike Epps
- Director : Charles Stone III
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Director(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Prime Video
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- Run time : 96 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : pervasive language, sexual references, drug use, and some underage drinking
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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