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The Replacements Customer Reviews (13 - 15 of 38 Reviews)

I WILL SURVIVE
THE REPLACEMENTS has one of the most original and delightful scenes when the scab players get in a bar brawl and end up in jail. Orlando Jones (in a funny performance) starts singing "I Will Surive" and we end up with these macho guys singing along and dancing in the holding room. It blew me away with its freshness. Add to this the addition of prostitutes as sexually charged cheerleaders and this gives THE REPLACEMENTS the honor of being one of the freshest and funniest sports movies ever made. In a world where overpaid athletes worry more about their salaries and endorsements than their fans, THE REPLACEMENTS gives us a bunch of misfits who have the heart and talent, even if they are a little rough around the edges. Director Howard Deutch keeps the action crisp and exciting, and even in using the expected cliches, he gives us a movie that provides much entertainment. Keanu Reeves uses his acting chops very well for a change; his dismissive and laconic personality adds to his charm as he realizes he is the heart behind the team. Gene Hackman takes his cliche role and elevates it to his usual standard of excellence, and the cast of football players is superb: David Denman as the deaf mute; Brett Cullen as the arrogant striking quarterback; Jones; Rhys Ifans in his role as the superkicker; and so on. Jon Favreau is brilliant as the somewhat demented SWAT team member, who comes on like a charging bull. Brooke Langton as the head cheerleader and Keanu's love interest is also effective. The football action is fast and furious, and the team's devotion to each other carries the ball for the movie. I am not the greatest fan of sports movies, but THE REPLACEMENTS is one of the best. Enjoy!!!

Boring and Recycled
Let's get the only two eliments that I liked about the movie out of the way first. 1) The cast: With Keanu Reeves, John Favreau, Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans and Gene Hackman. 2)The soundtrack: lots of great sport theme songs you would here at a real football or baseball game. The Movie itself. Well, maybe Hollywood thought the world needed a up to date sports comedy. Taking off of other such sports movie as Major League or Necessary Roughness where you have a bunch of underdogs (that are made of rookies, has-beens, and off-the-wall characters) that, if only they work as team, they will beat even the best of the best, win the hearts of all fans and ulitmately get the girl. I like movies like this, but this one didn't seem work. The crew didn't seem to click together, like the actors were just doing this movie inbetween their real projects (Keanu- waiting for Matrix sequels, Favreau- getting back to directing and writing, Orlando Jones- making an actual funny movie with non-recycled gags). The plot seemed too hokie. They needed a story line that could bring together a bunch of underdogs (In Major League, the owner wanted to put together the worst team so she could get relocated to a new stadium. In Necessary Roughness, the actual college players were pulled from the field because of bribes and under the table perks they were getting). In this movie, the actual pro-team players go on strike mid season forcing the owners to bring in average joes (with remarkable abilities ofcourse) to fill in their places (which is probably taking off the real life strike Pro Baseball went through and owners recruited outside players). The striking proplayers turn into the school bullies, all loyally following their quarterback, as they attempt to torment the players (turning over Falco's ((Reeves)) truck on more than one occasion). There is bar fight, a leading lady (which claims she doesn't date football players, but just happens to fall for one in this particular instance) and plenty of slap-stick gags that seems they may appeal best to 12 year old males. This isn't the first time Keanu has played a former football player. He goes from Johnny Utah (college quarterback turned FBI surfer in Point Break to Footsteps Falco in this movie). This isn't the first football movie for John Faveau, he played an over-weight nerd in Rudy. Gene Hackman played a better coach in Hoosiers. For some of these actors like Orlando Jones or Rhys Ifan this may be a big deal. Major motion pictures with big names to help out on their resume. Not that they haven't played in other movies with equally big stars, this one didn't hurt. For me, with the amount of actors in the movie, it makes playing "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" that much easier. All and all, don't worry about rushing to your local video store to see this one anytime soon. If you like any of the actors in this movie, then it may be something you may want to pick up.

The "Major League" of Football
The directors of this movie had to have been influenced by the movie "Major League", which was a flick similar to this instead intended for major league baseball. The Replacements is another great football comedy similar, but better than "Unecessary Roughness". Although I wasn't too thrilled about Keanu Reeves preformance, the other players did a tremendous job. Orlando Jones stars as a stone-handed reciever who used to work at a mini-mart. Other characters included to guards who were bodyguards, a linebacker who is a DEA agent, a kicker who is an alcoholic and soccer player from Europe, a running back who is a pastor, a safetly that's an inmate, and a asian offensive lineman that eats eggs before a game only to puke during competition. These unique personalites all end up blending together as the team lives life to it's fullest as professional athletes. I feel the movie could have had a more colorful quarterback, but the supporting cast was full of comedians. This movie, along with "Wildcats" and "Waterboy" are the best football movies in terms of comedy. One with a great sense of humor would be impressed. If you are too serious, then you will be extrememly bored however.

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