What laughs there are come mainly from Lil Rel Howery as the short, put-upon coach and Nick Kroll as a rival player constantly winding him up.

Instead, Uncle Drew, even for its insider-NBA jokes (how they got Chris Webber to do a timeout quip confounds me), rarely rises above a giggle and a shrug territory.

The story-which is based on a Pepsi commercial-hits facile beats of reconciliation, redemption, and romance, but the men's hearty jibes and the glimpses of their latter-day lives evoke depths of emotion and experience that remain untapped.

Corny, formulaic and unoriginal for sure, but not a terrible way to spend 100 minutes. Not bad for movie inspired by a prankish series of Pepsi commercials.