Dax (Lil Rel Howery) has spent his life savings to enter a team into the street basketball competition called the Rucker Classic. But when old rival Mookie (Nick Kroll) steals his top player and his girlfriend he is left searching for a replacement team. This is where the mythical Uncle Drew (NBA all star Kyrie Irving) comes along. This OAP is sporting some serious moves and a road trip to pick up his old crew follows.

Does anyone remember the Pepsi Max adverts from 2012? Where NBA players are made up to look old and show up some unsuspecting youngsters on court. Following their popularity a film has followed featuring the talent of the afore mentioned Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Nate Robinson and Reggie Miller. It’s an odd place to find inspiration for a film but it very nearly works.

The film is essentially a 3 act structure. Act 1 is our down on his luck protagonist hitting rock bottom. Act 2 is a super fast road trip reminiscent of the Blues Brothers getting the band back together (but never as good). Act 3 is the sporting movie redemption tournament. Each part is full of cliche and is fairly rote. But the reason the film very nearly works is thanks to some performances that almost save it.

Without exception all of the basketball players turned actors do a great job. Nate Robinson as Boots does especially well given he says little. But for me Nick Kroll steals the show. He is used fleetingly, but his pantomime villain is brilliantly over the top. I’ve always been a fan of Kroll since his TV work in The League and he does really well here.

But, will all the goodwill in the world and the film featuring some great performances, awesome basketball skills and even a dance off can I truly recommend it? Not quite, but it would be worth a go on the small screen for sure.