Fantasy Football movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Fantasy Football

This playful Nickelodeon movie can now be watched on Paramount+

RATING: TV-PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 38 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

In this hilarious and heartwarming father-daughter sports fantasy, everything changes when Callie A. Coleman (Marsai Martin) discovers she can magically control her father, Bobby’s (Omari Hardwick) performance on the football field. When Callie plays as her dad, a running back for the Atlanta Falcons, in EA SPORTS(TM)’ “Madden NFL 23,” Bobby is transformed from a fumblitis-plagued journeyman to a star runningback bound for superstardom alongside his daughter and wife Keisha (Kelly Rowland). With the NFL Playoffs looming and the pressures of Callie’s new commitment to her friends on the robotics team mounting, the two must forge ahead to keep the magic a secret as they juggle the highs and lows of their newfound success, all as they rediscover what it really means to be a family.

The movie was directed by Anton Cropper. It was produced by the SpringHill Company’s Emmy award-winning studio founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. It was also produced by NFL Films and EA Sports.

THINGS I LIKED:

I got a kick out of Omari Hardwick’s comedic performance. He’s definitely believable as a buff football player. You might recognize him from the movie Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.
Kelly Rowland plays the cute wife who keeps her football-player husband well-grounded. She was most recently seen in the movie The Curse of Bridge Hollow.” You can check out my review of that by clicking here.
Marsai Martin does a fantastic job as Callie. Those dimples are so adorable when she smiles. It’s great to see a young girl portrayed on the Big Screen who loves robotics and is skilled at computer coding.
All of the characters are likable and entertaining.
The movie features the NFL and the Madden NFL 23 video game.
Two of my four sons are in the video game business.
I used to live in Atlanta for 15 years, so it was fun to see the Atlanta Falcons again, and the Atlanta Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Fans of football will enjoy watching several games.
There’s plenty of cute humor, both as visual gags and spoken jokes.
Nickelodeon fans will appreciate the green slime moment.
Amusing special effects.
Isac Ivan’s character was cute. Does anyone know if that was his real voice singing Ave Maria? Exceptional!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Ultimately, the story is predictable.
Dishonesty is portrayed as being fun and okay. It’s not until many weeks later that a character begins to feel guilty about the sneaky trick that is helping a football player to do extremely well in the game.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Adults drink alcohol
Kissing
Some violence on and off the football team
Some “light” profanity. One of the characters says, “Pardon my language.”
We see girls in bikinis at a pool party.
Bullying by teens and adults

THEMES:

Family relationships
Father/Daughter bonding
Career success
Control
The magic of video games
Jealousy
Cheating

FUNNY LINES:

“You haven’t heard? Girls play video games too.” – Callie (Marsai Martin)
“I consider myself a human exclamation point.” – Keisha (Kelly Rowland)
“At your age, is not about finishing first but finishing at all.” – Anderson Fisher (Rome Flynn)