Inspired by the too-ludicrous-to-be-believed National Football League strike of 1987, Howard Deutch's THE REPLACEMENTS follows a team of scab players as they fill in for the real pros. Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), a compassionate and dedicated coach, is rehired by the owner of the Washington Sentinels to pull together a new .. Read more
| Starring | Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Jon Favreau |
|---|---|
| Director | Howard Deutch |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Inspired by the too-ludicrous-to-be-believed National Football League strike of 1987, Howard Deutch's THE REPLACEMENTS follows a team of scab players as they fill in for the real pros. Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), a compassionate and dedicated coach, is rehired by the owner of the Washington Sentinels to pull together a new crew in order to finish off the season and keep the stadium filled. This includes a safety who is on work release, a lightning-quick wide receiver with bricks for hands, a deranged linebacker-SWAT team member, a chain-smoking Welsh kicker, and Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a former college quarterback who lost his chance at the big time after a disastrous Sugar Bowl appearance. The newly formed squad must learn to set aside its differences if it is to win three out of four games and make it to the playoffs. Along the way, Falco finds himself harassed by the Sentinels' star quarterback, Eddie Martel, as well as falling in love with the team's head cheerleader, Annabelle (Brooke Langton). A final showdown against the strike-breaking reigning champions gives McGinty and Falco one last chance at redemption. Deutch's lighthearted comedy is greatly aided by Hackman and Reeves's surprisingly sincere performances.
| Starring | Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Jon Favreau, Brooke Langton, Rhys Ifans, Brett Cullen, Jack Warden, John Madden, Gailard Sartain, Michael Jace, Faizon Love, David Denman, Art Lafleur, Pat Summerall, Michael Taliferro, Troy Winbu |
|---|---|
| Director | Howard Deutch |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 53 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English, Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: Arabic, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 04 Jun 2001 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
This stale and hackneyed sports comedy about a bunch of has-beens and no-hopers replacing striking professional American football players has quite an impressive cast for its type, boasting the likes of Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Rhys Ifans and Jon Favreau. While it has some funny touches, such as the suggestive routines of the cheerleaders that distract the opposition, all the characters are purely one-dimensional, with even Hackman failing to achieve anything with his veteran coach role. Although the numerous passes and touchdowns are competently filmed, there's precious little excitement generated, since we care little about those on the pitch.
Lowbrow, slapstick comedy that does not travel well outside the USA.
I know absolutely nothing about American Football, but even though this sport is the backdrop to the story this lack of knowledge did nothing to spoil the plot. A gentle, (for the most part), story of expected losers coming out on top. A nice little antidote to some of the more cynical views on life to be found in some films these days.
This film is pretty much about American Football. Definitely not the kind of film I would normally watch, but I am glad I did.
About a group of footballing misfits, who get the chance to play one last game. It doesn't matter if you are into football or not. You can't help but warm to this film from the start.
I recommend it to anybody.