Longshot (film)

Longshot is a 2001 teen film directed by Lionel C. Martin, and written by Lou Pearlman, as a promotional tool to promote the acting debuts of his succession of successful boybands and girl groups, such as *NSYNC, O-Town and Natural, as well as rapper Lil' Kim, singer Britney Spears, girlband Innosense and boyband LFO, all of whom had cameo appearances in the film, as Pearlman had worked with all of them during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The plot recounts the tale of a young boy, Alex Taylor, who gets caught up in his brother's activities as a gigolo, and uses each of the said pop acts as a tool within the film.

The film was never released to theaters in America, instead being shown on the Disney Channel as a television movie, and later being released on video and DVD as a home entertainment release. However, it was released to theaters in Germany, where all of Pearlman's boybands had enjoyed success long before their international debuts, and was also released on DVD in the Netherlands. The film was also packaged with copies of Crossroads, a film which starred Britney Spears, in selected FYE stores in the United States.

About one-third of the film was service-produced in Toronto, which doubled up as New York City within the film, under contract with The Danforth Studios Ltd, a subsidiary of SpaceWorks Entertainment Inc. The film was a complete commercial failure, taking in nowhere near the $20 million it cost to film at the box office. The film was also panned by critics, who claimed that many of the pop acts who appeared in the film later claimed to have only appeared due to the amount of pay they would receive for a cameo appearance.^[1]

Plot

Alex Taylor lives in L.A. with his older brother, Jack, who works as a personal fitness trainer and sometime gigolo. Alex's classmates begin to harass him after he misses the game-winning shot at the end of one of his high school's basketball games. Meanwhile, Laszlo Pryce, a rich and corrupt businessman, discovers Jack's affair with his wife, Mitzi. Laszlo threatens to kill Jack and Alex unless Jack travels to New York City to seduce a widower named Rachel Montgomery. On the verge of selling her company, Laszlo wants Jack to relay any inside information he can discover about the impending transaction. Fearing for his younger brother's life, Jack brings Alex with him on the trip. The con begins to unravel when Rachel and Jack fall for each other while Alex similarly falls for Rachel's daughter, Kelly. Jack reveals to Rachel why he's in New York, and the two conspire to expose Pryce. Rachel, though, needs to raise two million dollars to save her company. In a stroke of luck, Alex wins a contest to shoot a halftime, half-court shot. If he makes it, Rachel keeps her company, Laszlo is arrested, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film was released on March 5, 2002, via Transcontinental Records. The album features brand new recordings from 'N Sync and O-Town especially for the film.^[2]

1. "Feel the Love" - 'N Sync
2. "Me (Boom Shelak, Lak, Boom)" - LFO
3. "See You Again" - O-Town
4. "Put Your Arms Around Me" - Natural
5. "Let's Get this Party Started" - Take 5
6. "Wishing on Every Star" - Innosense
7. "So Often" - C-Note
8. "It Don't Bother Me" - Brizz
9. "She's A Mystery" - Becker
10. "In and Out" - Ali Dee
11. "I Just Wanna (Be With You)" - Bon Voyage
12. "Happy" - Keli Michaels
13. "Fall in Love" - Nicole Carter
14. "A Reason to Love Me" - Joey Sculthorpe
15. "Longshot Theme" - Lalo Schifrin
16. "Longshot Theme" (Remix) - Lalo Schifrin

• "Comatose" and "All Around" - Jaymeer were used in the chase scene.

References

External links

• Longshot at the Internet Movie Database