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The Replacements Customer Reviews (31 - 33 of 38 Reviews)

Worth Seeing
I've seen this movie no less than 5 times and I've found it funny each time. Definitely one to add to your collection.

A fun movie, but not as good as the team it's based on.
I enjoyed The Replacements. It's pretty silly but still a lot of fun. Gene Hackman, as the coach, is good -- as he always is. Keanu Reeves is just right as the replacement quarterback, and Brooke Langton is terrific as the beautiful head cheerleader. The fact that she and Reeves' character fall in love is predictable but nice.

I would like to note, however, that this movie is very-loosely based on a real replacement team that played for the Washington Redskins during an NFL players' strike. (Because this movie is a comedy, not a documentary, the team in the movie is called the Washington Sentinels.) The Redskins were the only NFL team that did not have a single player who crossed the picket line during the strike. Nevertheless, their replacements won all three of their games and helped the Redskins make the playoffs where they ultimately won the Superbowl that year. The finest game played by the replacement Redskins was their last one -- an improbable victory over a Dallas Cowboys team, many of whose regular players had crossed the picket line.

So enjoy The Replacements as a comedy, but please don't forget what a real group of replacement players actually accomplished in real life.

Unoriginal but hilarious
Despite the fact that this film is a totally unoriginal and predictable retread of a dozen "losers to winners" sports stories, it is so hysterically funny that I didn't even care. The story is thin at best. The NFL is having a players strike and scabs are called in to finish the season. Our heroes are low on ability but high on desire and peculiarity. The quarterback, Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), once had a promising career, but he fell apart psychologically when his team was pummeled in a college bowl game and he was labeled a player that folds in the big game. Of course, while visiting the NFL, Shane falls in love with the head cheerleader (Brooke Langton) who never dates players (except of course this once).

All this is merely a mundane excuse for a raucous and silly comedy that has some sidesplitting moments. To enjoy this film you really need two things. You need to love football and you need to enjoy slapstick, banana peel comedy. I realize that this limits the audience considerably, but for those who qualify (and I am one), this movie is a scream.

Director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Grumpier Old Men) did a great job on the football sequences. He hired 45 professional football players (Former NFL players, Canadian Football League, etc.) to do the football scenes and sent the actors to a three-week football camp. The action looked real because it was real. The players were told to play and hit the way they normally would. Of course, the plays were choreographed, but they were real football plays.

The comedy was lowbrow, outrageous and crass, with a great deal of physical comedy. The cheerleader scenes were a riot, especially the cheerleader tryouts. The scene where they started pantomiming sex acts to distract the opposing team was priceless. There was also sharp-witted football humor that required more than just a passing knowledge of the game.

There isn't much serious that can be said about the acting. Keanu Reeves tried to play an earnest comeback and romantic role amidst all the foolishness and it really didn't fit with the rest of the film. However, he was an excellent athlete. He did most of his own on-field shots and looked very believable as the quarterback. Gene Hackman was good when he was making snappy wisecracks, but his inspirational "Hoosiers" imitation was misplaced.

This film really belonged to the supporting actors like Orlando Jones (Clifford Franklin), Michael Taliferro and Faizon Love (The Jackson Twins), Ace Yonamine (Jumbo Fumiko), Rhys Ifans (Nigel "The Leg" Gruff) and all the cheerleaders who made the comedy work. Jon Favreau gets a special mention as the crazy S.W.A.T. officer turned linebacker who took the wild man role to the next level. The scenes with an incredulous Pat Summerall and John Madden were also fabulous.

This film won't be fun for everyone, but it will have certain people falling off their chairs. I rated it an 8/10. Subtract two points if you aren't amused by slapstick and boorish behavior, and another two if you aren't a football fan. For the rest of you, be prepared to split a gut.

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