Sports movies with misfits somehow pulling it together in an exciting finale are always entertaining (ie "Mighty Ducks", "Remember the Titans", "Major League"), and that portion of "Longest Yard" is certainly memorable (heck, just seeing Richard Kiel, WSUs Sonny Sixkiller, Ray Nitschke, Cal's Joe Kapp was a treat).

As for the rest of the movie, sort of a poor man's "Shawshank Redemption", which was itself a working man's "On the Waterfront" or "Cool Hand Luke"? Though Reynolds could clown around and be somewhat relatable, he always seemed too cocky for my liking (with todays perspectives, he sometimes borders on Ron Burgundy). For a prison movie, why is it I feel for Cool Hand Luke, and zero for Crewe? Albert's Warden Hazen is so over-the-top evil, its comic-bookish, but I guess that's the purpose/flavor of the whole movie (note here, the understated evil beauty of Luke's warden's "What we have here...is failure...to communicate!", Strother Martin at his finest)

Of course "The Longest Yard" begat spinoffs like "Semi-Tough" (Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson), "North Dallas Forty" (Nick Nolte, Mac Davis) where football players sort of drank, winked, womanized, and mugged their way through NFL seasons, getting by on their supposed masculinity and cool. Thankfully, NFL football (and acting) have come a long way since then, conditioning and humility becoming a bigger part of the game. It makes you wonder if Joe Namath could prosper in today's game, NFL owners perhaps not wanting to invest in his poor conditioning and bad habits (is Charlie Sheen Joe's acting counterpart?).