Parents' Guide to

Uncle Drew

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Amusing street-ball comedy has a few racy jokes, language.

Movie PG-13 2018 103 minutes
Uncle Drew Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 17 parent reviews

Cabean42
Cabean42 Adult
September 24, 2019
age 5+

Love the movie

When I first seen the movie I fell right in love with it my favorite part in the movie is the dancing especially I love Uncle Drew's move this is a very awesome movie even for family there's no cussing i is respectful cleanI would love to meet the guy plays as Uncle Drew I love to me all of them before I ever leave this world plus my kids the whole family I can watch this movie over and over and over again I give it top 100

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Anounymous
Anounymous Parent of 1-year-old
June 22, 2019
age 2+
See all 17 parent reviews

What's the Story?

UNCLE DREW follows basketball-obsessed Foot Locker salesman Dax (Lil Rel Howery), whose aspirations for coaching a tournament-winning street-ball team are ruined when his longtime rival, Mookie (Nick Kroll), poaches Dax's team -- and his chances at the first-place team's $100,000 check. With Dax's whole life savings spent on Harlem's Rucker Classic registration fee, he goes on a desperate search for another team ... and finds 70-something Uncle Drew (NBA All Star Kyrie Irving), a street-ball legend who famously played in the same tournament 50 years earlier. Uncle Drew agrees to play for Dax as long as he can recruit his own roster. The duo ends up road-tripping to convince Drew's (very) old teammates to join the crew: Preacher (Chris Webber), wheelchair-bound Boots (Nate Robinson), Big Fella (Shaquille O'Neill), and legally blind Lights (Reggie Miller). The team ends up reconnecting both on and off the court and healing old wounds.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (17):
Kids say (7):

There might not be anything new about an underdog sports comedy, but this one is entertaining enough even for viewers who can't tell Nike Jordans from Irvings. Howery, best known as the scene-stealing best friend from Get Out, is effective here as the straight man comedy lead. His comedy skills are on point, and he's easily believable as a lovable loser basketball fanatic. Comedy queen Tiffany Haddish co-stars as his hilariously materialistic girlfriend, Jess, who dumps him for Mookie, played by Kroll in a delightfully manic performance.

Uncle Drew and his crew -- that is to say the NBA players past and present -- don't have to do that much to be funny, and audiences don't need to know who's who to enjoy the sight gags, but it helps. For example, those who don't know that Kyrie has his own line of Nike sneakers won't realize that Drew is wearing them throughout most of the movie, and only moviegoers familiar with the players will get a couple of the jokes about their strengths on the court (or in one case, a timeout zinger aimed at Webber -- look up the NCAA championship game from 1993). WNBA star Lisa Leslie also appears as Preacher's intimidating wife, Betty Lou, who knows how to ball but is really just concerned about her dear husband's health. Ultimately, even someone who only knows the names of GOATs like Jordan, Johnson, Jabbar (and OK, O'Neill and Miller) will find reasons to laugh. Is this an amazing movie that will stand the test of time? Not at all. But it's better than expected from the premise and good for inspirational sports-related messages and several belly laughs.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the messages in Uncle Drew. What does Uncle Drew mean when he tells Dax that "you miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take"?

  • Who are the role models in the movie? How is teamwork portrayed in the story, and why is that an important character strength?

  • Why do you think sports movies are popular? What about comedies featuring actors in aging makeup/fat suits, etc.? What's the appeal of these sorts of films? How does Uncle Drew stack up?

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