What in the world is Adam Sandler doing starring in a remake of 1974's The Longest Yard, the bone-crunching guards-versus-inmates football grudge match? Not much, chiefly because director Peter Segal (Sandler's collaborator on Anger Management and 50 First Dates) never decides whether he wants to kid the original movie or take it seriously.

Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds and Adam Sandler Credit: Paramount Pictures

The new picture does have more laughs, thanks to a quipping Chris Rock as Sandler's sidekick Caretaker, skilled at procuring anything inside Allenville Penitentiary, for a price. But as Paul Crewe, the ex-football player indicted for shaving points in a big game years earlier, Sandler plays things relatively straight, willing us to care about the cliche-riddled gridiron showdown.

You have to admire Sandler's recent efforts to stretch, including such miscalculations as Punch Drunk Love and Spanglish, but The Longest Yard is hardly playing to his performance strengths.

Nelly and Adam Sandler Credit: Paramount Pictures

A grizzled, gray-topped Burt Reynolds, who starred as Crewe in the original movie, shows up as longtime felon and former Heisman Trophy winner Nate Scarborough. He assists with coaching the convicts and eventually gets in the game - a nice, if improbable, touch.