light weight football movie

Rating: 6/10 (31 August 2014)

Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) is a former star college quarterback who washed out in the pros. Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen) is the star quarterback of Washington Sentinels who is more concerned about himself than the team. Then the players go on strike and Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) is hired to shape up a new team of replacement players. They need three more wins out of their final four games to get into the playoffs. It's a mishmash of wacky personalities. Shane falls for the head cheerleader Annabelle Farrell (Brooke Langton) who has to come up with a new group of cheerleaders. Rhys Ifans is the wiry kicker. Jon Favreau is the angry defensive player who loves to hit. Orlando Jones is the jokey player.
It's a pretty light weight football movie with a bit of rom-com. Gene Hackman is slumming it a little to give this some substance. It has a few good jokes. The stripper cheerleaders are cute. The players have just enough wackiness. Keanu Reeves is still that likable lead. It's formulaic and somewhat watchable. At least, director Howard Deutch has the skills to use the formula even with a song and dance in jail.