Hysterical football comedy

Rating: 9/10 (12 August 2000)

"The Replacements" is a very funny, very entertaining comedy which is loosely based on the real-life NFL strike during the 1987 season where the real players went on strike and replacement players were brought in to take their place. Keanu Reeves took a break from action movies to do comedy here and in "The Replacements" he stars as Shane Falco, the replacement quarterback for the fictional Washington Sentinels. Oscar winner Gene Hackman also gets to show off some of his comic side as the Sentinels coach Jimmy McGinty who recruits these mostly off-the-wall players, and it's great to see long-time veteran character actor Jack Warden still around as he portrays the Sentinels owner Edward O'Neil. The other replacements players are an assorted bunch of oddball characters: a store security guard who's very fast but has butterfingers for hands; a Japanese sumo wrestler; a soccer player from Wales who becomes the field goal kicker and who's usually smoking (even on the field); a cop who's turns into a absolute tackling nut on the field; a wide-receiver who's deaf; and a rapper bodyguard duo. There's also focus on the cheerleaders, where two of them are exotic dancers. Not to mention the head cheerleader takes an interest in Falco. "The Replacements" is a silly and predictable movie, but I didn't mind because it did make me laugh and I laughed alot while watching it. Plus, the entire cast does a pretty good job. It's nice to see Reeves and Hackman get a chance to do comedy again (Reeves starred in the two "Bill & Ted" comedies; Hackman did the nutty 1996 film "The Birdcage"). Old pro Warden has a few good moments as the team owner, and the actors who play the other replacement players are a riot. I didn't find "The Replacements" all that original but since it's so funny most of the time I didn't care. It's the funniest football comedy since "The Waterboy".
***1/2 (out of four)