Keke Palmer Movies

Former Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst directs Ice Cube and Keke Palmer in this battle-of-the-sexes sports comedy about a former high-school football star who coaches his niece to become the first-ever girl quarterback in the history of Pop Warner football. Based on a true story, The Longshots opens in the struggling American town of Minden, IL. The Minden Browns used to be one of the strongest teams in the Pop Warner league, but lately things have taken a turn for the worst. Recognizing that his old team needs some fresh blood in order to make a comeback, a former player (Cube) trains his 11-year-old niece, Jasmine (Palmer), to throw the ball like a true gridiron giant. While the powers that be scoff at the idea of a female quarterback, they soon begin to sing a different tune as Jasmine leads the Browns to the championships and an invigorating shot at redemption. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Already fed up with the endless onslaught of relatives constantly streaming through his front door, Curtis is distressed to hear that his son Malik is being harassed by a schoolyard bully. When Curtis arrives at a conference with the school principal to discuss the matter, he is taken aback to find out that the thuggish lunch money thief is actually a young girl named Nikki. Upon meeting Nikki's foster mother Madea, Curtis immediately begins to understand where the young girl's attitude problems originated. Later, when the principal suggests that Nikki and Curtis attempt to move beyond their problems by studying together, Curtis and Madea begrudgingly agree to go along with the plan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she's hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school's spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson's 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Inspired by the true-life tale of a dedicated elementary-school teacher who inspired his inner-city students by teaching them the game of chess, Allen Hughes' uplifting made for television feature marks a noted departure from such previous efforts as From Hell and Menace II Society. Richard Mason (Ted Danson) was middle-aged and unemployed when he decided to take up teaching inner-city students, and though most of the kids in his classroom couldn't have cared less about their education in the beginning, something curious happened as time went on. Realizing that he wasn't getting very far with his students through conventional means, Richard realized that he would have to innovate in order to encourage critical thinking among the impressionable youngsters. By breaking the curriculum and instead teaching his pupils the finer points of chess, the man who had once lost all motivation in life suddenly realizes just what a difference one teacher can make if they simply become more attuned to the needs of their students. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Kevin Rodney Sullivan steps in to direct the urban comedy sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business. The whole gang -- Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), Jimmy James (Sean Patrick Thomas), Terri (Eve), Isaac (Troy Garity), Ricky (Michael Ealy), and Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) -- are still there in the same old barbershop in the south side of Chicago. Owner Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) tries to keep his family business alive in order to pass it on to his own son one day. However, the beloved neighborhood barber shop is threatened by a hair salon franchise called Nappy Cuts. This time around, the old friends are joined by Gina (Queen Latifah) from the beauty shop next door. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide