Replace the Film With a Good One.

Rating: 2/10 (1 September 2015)

The Replacements (2000): Dir: Howard Deutch / Cast: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Brooke Langton, Jon Favreau: Same old junk with a different paint job. It suggests ignorance on behalf of those whom the team will eventually prove wrong. Gene Hackman plays a football coach who decides to assemble a team of players who have dropped out of sight. There is a football strike and he views this as an opportunity for others to shed their light. Among these are a maniac cop, a convict, a gambler who can kick, two big black bar bouncers, a sumo wrestler, etc. Keanu Reeves is sought after as a quarterback. He served a nasty defeat but Hackman still sees potential. Recycled and dreary with director Howard Deutch doing his best but after making The Odd Couple 2 he needs all the help he can muster. He also directed Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful (which doesn't describe this film). Hackman is wasted as the coach who will whip these players into shape. Orlando Jones is far too talented to be stuck in a film that requires no thought. Brooke Langton's role is obvious in that she is basically a romantic prop. While Varsity Blues made this same sort of film entertaining and funny, here is a film so deserving to be toss onto a football field so that it might be stumped on by every single player. The screenplay is in bad need of replacing. Score: 2 / 10