Sandler himself wasn't in his finest form. His character is mostly unlikeable, even toward the end. The biggest flaw here is you never find yourself rooting for him and his team, they are no better than the sadistic and racist guards. Carrying himself as the fallen hero, Paul Crewe is essentially a selfish and arrogant man, thinking himself above the law and better than everyone else. His fall from grace strikes you as karma rather than misfortune. Amongst the other rag tag bunch of performers is Chris Rock, playing himself yet again, and Nelly (the singer) turning in a competent performance as a, well not sure of the position, but he runs and catches the strange shaped ball. Reynolds pops up in the remake of his original, and in true Get Carter form, has a pivotal role. The only other performance to note is big Kevin Nash as one of the guards, but to tell you why would sap some of the humour.

Essentially a basic American comedy, The Longest Yard has some laughs but never rises above mediocre, which is unfortunate because Sandler has made some damn funny films, and in his hands you would expect this to be much better. Potential wasted my friend, please try again.