The Replacements

Plot synopsis:
A fictional pro football league finds themselves hit with a players' strike with the season still needing to be finished. Washington Sentinels owner Edward O'Neil calls a former coach of his, Jimmy McGinty, telling McGinty that he and the rest of the teams are going to finish the final four games of the season with replacement players. O'Neil asks McGinty to coach the Sentinels the rest of the season, along with the pressure of winning three of the last four games to make the playoffs. McGinty accepts, on the condition that he will also be given the freedom to sign the players he wants with O'Neil not allowed to interfere.
With O'Neil accepting his requests, McGinty builds his team of different varying players that he believes can make a winning team. As his quarterback, McGinty chooses Shane Falco, a former All-American from Ohio State whose career went to pieces after a horrendous Sugar Bowl game, and now lives in a houseboat near the Sentinels' stadium. Falco initially refuses, but McGinty convinces him, believing that Falco can still be the player he was meant to be. The replacement players are greeted to their first practice hostilely by the striking players, calling the replacements "scabs", and throwing eggs at them, and Falco, who arrives late, gets his truck turned over. Head cheerleader Annabelle Ferrell, who has to find new cheerleaders since the originals apparently went on strike as well, reluctantly hires strippers when the other tryouts go terribly bad. After practice, Annabelle drives Falco home and surprises him with her vast football knowledge.
The replacements' first game is against Detroit, and the team initially struggles to get along, causing the Sentinels to fall behind early. Falco tries to rally the team back, but on the last play, he panics when he sees a pending blitz and calls an audible, which falls short of the winning touchdown. McGinty berates Falco for what he did, telling him that "winners always want the ball when the game's on the line." At a local bar, several of the replacements lament over their loss, when several of the striking players, led by their prima donna quarterback Eddie Martel, arrive and taunt the replacements. When Falco stands up to Martel, a brawl follows, leading to the replacements being arrested, but they build a bond in the process, dancing together in their cell before McGinity bails them out. Annabelle meets Shane the next day, having heard what happened, and tells him that he's the first quarterback she's seen in a long time be so selfless, and a connection starts to grow with the two of them.
In the Sentinels' next game against San Diego, they fall behind again but are able to come together once again, and this time win, on a 65-yard field goal by their kicker, a Welsh soccer player named Nigel Gruff. Falco meets Annabelle again, where she runs a bar her father used to own and admits that she was raised with football. After sharing a short conversation and having a beer together, they consummate their feelings for one another, sharing a deep kiss. The Sentinels nearly lose their next game on the road against Phoenix, but win on a couple of improbable plays.
When the Sentinels return to DC, O'Neil tells McGinty that Eddie Martel has crossed the picket line, and points out that the entire team of the league's defending champions, and the Sentinels' next opponent, Dallas, have crossed as well. O'Neil shows no confidence in Falco being able to beat Dallas, and hints to McGinity that he could be fired if McGinty refuses to start Martel. McGinty gives in and reluctantly tells Falco, who then tells his teammates the same thing, demoralizing the team. Unable to face Annabelle after what happened, Falco leaves her stood up for their planned date.
In the first half of the final crucial game, Martel refuses to get along with the rest of the replacement players, and also smugly ignores any play calls McGinty makes, causing the Sentinels fall behind to Dallas 17–0. The hometown fans, who had initially despised the replacements, now boo Martel, having accepted Falco as their favorite. On the way to the locker room for halftime, McGinty tells a TV reporter that the team needs "heart" to come back and win, something he had earlier said Falco had. Falco, watching this on television, returns to the stadium, and McGinty promptly benches Martel for Falco. Martel angrily tells Falco that he will never be known as anything but a replacement player. Falco says he can live with that and the rest of the team throws Martel out of the stadium. On his way back to the field, Falco finds Annabelle and apologizes to her, giving her another deep kiss in front of the crowd and other cheerleaders.
McGinty tells the replacements that the strike will officially end the next day, giving the players incentive to give everything they have left. The Sentinels rally back to a 17-14 score, with Gruff being called to kick the game-tying field goal late in the game. However, Gruff spots bookies that he owes money to in the crowd, and realizes that they want him to throw the game or they'll take his pub from him as compensation. He hints this to Falco just before the kick, and Falco pulls the ball away, causing Gruff to fall from the momentum of his kicking motion and break his arm. Falco initially scores the apparent winning touchdown, but it's called back on a Sentinels penalty. With Gruff unable to continue, Falco tells McGinty that he "wants the ball", affirming what McGinty had told him before. Falco calls for a deep pass to the replacements' deaf tight end, Brian Murphy, and hits him with the game-winning touchdown pass as time expires, earning the Sentinels a playoff berth. Falco celebrates with Annabelle, while McGinty narrates that the replacement players left the field with nothing but the satisfaction and personal glory of what they've accomplished, which is living the athlete's dream of a "second chance." He then watches the replacements dance on the field to the Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive".

Tags: comedy

Review:
Gene Hackman was good when he was making snappy wisecracks, but his inspirational `Hoosiers' imitation was misplaced.This film really belonged to the supporting actors like Orlando Jones (Clifford Franklin), Michael Taliferro and Faizon Love (The Jackson Twins), Ace Yonamine (Jumbo Fumiko), Rhys Ifans (Nigel `The Leg' Gruff) and all the cheerleaders who made the comedy work.
That struggle to overcome provides a good solid center around which all the hilarity revolves and becomes funnier in contrast.Gene Hackman and the rest of this ensemble cast did a great job--everyone has his or her moments.
But it seems like there should have just been one scene between them with some real substance."The Replacements" also succeeds well as a football movie.
The great photography and sound; the inventiveness of the script in dreaming up unusual and funny, yet still plausible, game events; and the evident attention to training for and depicting the physical moves, all add up to a movie which sports fans will relish.
And that's certainly what the audience did when I saw "The Replacements." As well as cheering out loud for the "home team," clapping at the end, and coming out feeling like dancing to "I Will Survive" like they did in the movie.
The "never-been" QB (Keanu Reeves) must try to lead them to victory."The Replacements" is primarily a good screwball comedy, in the vein of, but significantly better than, "Best of Show" and "The Waterboy." Some may even take a "message" away, about the importance of teamwork, belief in oneself, true love (QB and the head cheerleader).
But that is all secondary.I rate this one highly for pure escapism entertainment, but also with good acting by Reeves and Hackman, and some almost-believable football action, heavily interlaced with goofiness.
Gene Hackman was good - that goes without saying, but I think this is the first time I've ever seen him portray a character I actually liked.If you enjoy a good laugh, this a movie you would likely enjoy..
While there is a lot to look at in "Replacements," like Keanu Reeves (who is also really good in this role, playing it for drama amid all the wackiness) getting the hell beat out of him, or like the replacement cheerleaders carted in from local strip clubs to really get the fans pumped for the game (is this what the XFL is going to be like?), this movie works as more than all that stuff.
The Replacements: Professional football takes a turn for the bizarre when the players go out on strike - rather than suspend the season, the owner of the Washington Sentinels asks his coach to cobble together a team of replacement players to carry on.Football on the big screen has been approached from almost every conceivable angle: humorous ("The Longest Yard"), love story ("All the Right Moves"), sport as metaphor for life ("Any Given Sunday") and pathos ("North Dallas Forty") are but a few examples.
Essentially a composite of all the above, "The Replacements", is loosely based on facts - the fictional Sentinels represent the Washington Redskins whose replacement players did quite well - the NFL however would not allow the film to use the name of any real teams).If I remember correctly, (keep in mind that I'm not a sports fan and it was a long time ago) the NFL strike of 1987 was due to player dissatisfaction with the salary cap and the subject of free agents.
The utter ludicrousness of multimillionaire sports figures pleading poverty is summed up in an interview with the striking quarterback for the Sentinels who says "Well $5 million might sound like a lot of money, but I have to give 10% to my agent." Just then a colleague pipes up "And do you know how much it costs to ensure a Ferrari?!?"   The frightening thing is that some players actually believe this stuff.Reeves, not known for his dramatic flair, is believable as Shane Falco (it is after all Reeves' third outing as a gridiron grappler), a forgotten quarterback who blew a promising career with one bad game .
The supporting cast does an excellent job, but I particularly enjoyed the casting of John Madden and Pat Summerall whose officiating lends an air of realism to the proceedings.I do however have two misgivings about the movie: the trailer I saw this evening gives away some of the best parts of the movie (a trend that I've noticed is getting worse) and what is the preoccupation with football players vomiting (it played a role in "Any Given Sunday")- I don't find it particularly amusing.That said, , "The  Replacements" is uncomplicated, funny, and takes a few well aimed shots at professional sports.
The "team of misfits", the evil professionals who refuse to accept them, the "hidden talents", the "soccer kicker who would be a great football player", the love interest that has nothing to do with the story, the fickle fans, and even the classic bar fight.
Brooke Langton really knows how to make a guy smile, and feel good about himself, and does an excellent job as the female attraction.Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves really work well together, and you get a feeling that they could really be pals.
This shows what a versatile actor Keanu is, and that he has a good sense of comic timing.This is one of those movies that no matter how many times I've seen it, if I come by the TV and find it on, I just must sit down and watch it one more time.
Hackman's Presence Again Raises the Bar. In the tradition of SLAPSHOT and THE LONGEST YARD, THE REPLACEMENTS was a charming and laugh-out loud sports film about a group of scabs for an on strike, fictional pro football team brought together by a long out of work coach (Gene Hackman) and long ago disgraced quarterback (Keanu Reeves) coaxed into a comeback.
Mostly the film is weighed down by Keanu Reeves' dull performance as a scab football player during a professional players' strike and Gene Hackman's tired bit as the coach who thinks he's seen it all.
Nothing inspired ever happens, even the football scenes aren't very exciting, and then the film ends up with a finale about professionals and their love of money over the game that is so out of place and oh-so-self-righteous in a bad way that I wanted to slap the writer.
Brooke Langton makes a sparkling star debut as Reeves' love interest, standing out from a cast of known character actors like Orlando Jones and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) who are basically riffing off the personas we know them already for..
Reeves plays the film for drama and character and does a good job, bringing his famed physicality and dedication to character with incredibly dry humour (lovely comedy timing when he gets grass in his grill).
i enjoyed this sports comedy/romance.i found it funny,touching and engaging.it's not one of those bust a gut funny movies,it's more of the pretty good chuckles variety.it's one of those feel good kind of movies,where you just can't help but root for the guy and girl to get together.even the action bits(mostly comedic football action) are good.Gene Hackman and Keanuu Reeves are the headliners,but i found Brooke Langton to be very good in her role.it's nice to see Hackman and Reeves in a lite movie,rather than the intense movies they're usually known for.at the end of the movie,i felt pretty good.at the very least,you might forget about you problems for awhile.for me,The Replacements is a 7/10.
Keanu Reeves gives a decent performance and the rest of the cast does well within the course of the movie.The movie plot itself is a complete rip-off of the 1991 movie Necessary Roughness starring Scott Bakula.From needing to start a team over, in this movie due to a pro strike, in the other due to college violations to the old quarter-back with the 'what-if' syndrome, even the love story portion.This flick just updates and changes Necessary Roughness from a college football movie to a pro-football movie..
Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman are the credited as the main stars, however the supporting cast in my opinion provided all of the laughs.You have to see this film, If I haven't convinced you yet, try this, I think American Football is the most boring, stupid, and idiotic game ever invented.(They only kick it occasionally, so why is it called Football?) BUT I still loved this movie..
I will also qualify this review by admitting that I have no interest in American football and am not familiar with the game, rules, history or teams.I am, however, familiar with the formulaic story of a bunch of sporting misfits come good under the guidance of an inspirational coach (Hackman) - having seen it repeated seemingly a dozen times.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsThe Replacements is an engaging comedy/drama that details a disasterous time for the NFL in 1987 when a top team's players went on strike  over a pay dispute,and some second-rate substitutes were called in to make it unsuccessful.Keanu Reeves is his usual plain but relateable self ,while Gene Hackman gives an inspiring performance as his coach.There's also a kinky looking blonde who provides the male viewers with some pleasant titillation,and Rhys Ifans plays impressively to form as a Welsh lager lout in debt to some racketeering mobsters.But the one main thing dogging the film like any other film about football is watching the football scenes themselves.The game of football is based around unpredictability and sudden emotion charging surprises,and never before,nor likely ever,will seeing it acted out be anything other than painful to watch.***.
But I did catch it on cable recently and found that while it does follow the usual clichés of sports/comedy movies - inspirational coach, washed up player becomes the hero, romantic sub-plot - it has some very very funny moments, and overall, is an extremely enjoyable film.
What makes this movie fun to watch are the truly goofy, off the wall scenes that you don't find in other sports movies - loved the jailhouse line dancing scene - the memorable characters and their interaction with each other, and the bone crunching game sequences.
The out-of-shape chain-smoking Scotsman with the kicking leg of steel, the sumo wrestler, the ex-con, the cop with anger issues, the butterfingered comedian - they are goofy and hilarious, but at the same time completely believable.Keanu Reeves' stoic face and delivery works to great effect here - he is a guy who has repressed a lot of fear and humiliation, but responds to the looseness and friendship of his teammates.
It is to this film's credit that these underlying themes don't keep it from being entertaining and laugh out loud funny at times.If you know and love football, you will enjoy this movie..
(Oh, and the comment earlier about how this movie glamorizes "scabs" over organized employment...c'mon, don't take everything so seriously.)There are so many parts of this movie that make me roll with laughter that I can't pinpoint just one, but I have to say, my sons eyes popped out of his head when the Cheerleader "strippers" did their "Bad Girls" cheer, just like the guys on the other team, I couldn't help but laugh.Don't watch it if you expect Oscar worthy material, but if you just want to have fun, this is a perfect flick.....
Keanu Reeves is a heck of lot more watchable in these type of comedies than he is as an action hero and Gene Hackman is great as usual.
There are also good side roles by Jon Favreau, Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans and even Art LaFleur ( it's been a while since I last saw him ).Naturally, the good guys win from the arrogant bullies, the development of the love-story was unavoidable as well and the use of typical Football-songs - like Rock 'N Roll part 2 - bring a smile to your face.
Yeah, the Replacements didn't have many hits with the public, sincerely, I don't know why, the movie is not lifetime changing, it's just really funny, and there's more: Keanu Reeves.
The coach who wants to run the team his way, the owner that only cares about winning, the QB with the great arm but a confidence problem, the receiver who is fast but can't catch, the insane linebacker who happens to be a cop is teamed with the convict who is released from jail to play football, the tight end whose deaf, and the real QB who is arrogant.
Sports movies are sports movies, and this one has Keanu Reeves as a football player, Orlando Jones, an Irish guy who says, "Bollocks!" a lot, a Sumo wrestler, two big black bouncers, a very adamantly focused ex-army guy, an attractive love interest with nice cleavage (hey, she's in a cheerleader outfit for half the movie...), a load of strippers-turned-cheerleaders, and Gene Hackman, among other things.
The lack of originality, the sleep-walking performances by Reeves and Hackman, and stock characters that have been worn out by football movies from Semi-Tough to Any Given Sunday made me feel like a complete sucker for renting this one.
BUT, most interesting fact is that team wasn't professional rugby players, but people who were in jail, just a normal people who work their job, like in good old days of amateur sport.
i laughed so hard to water boy, ...watched it a million times , i was twenty minutes in to this movie-the replacements- when i realized that i hadn't really laughed yet,what shocked me into "serious land" was how the writers brought in the "love angle"--you watch it and tell me if you could have written that better-cliché'-- , i like all the actors in it , they all did a great job, however , i think that the writing is just way overdone ---this movie idea has kinda been done--i just knew every punchline before it came, --one cliché' after another -- so , as another reviewer stated, this is a good afternoon , popcorn movie ---- But DON'T EVER-- think that this is in the same "comedy classic" movie category as "water boy"--who is funnier as a leading role , Adam sandler or Keane reeves?-- and the great tell ...
Really enjoyed hearing John Madden and Pat Summerall doing the commentary of the games, my favorite football announce team ever by the way.The story itself is your usual loser overcomes the odds sports movies but even with that I didn't care because of how funny the story was..
Yes, The Replacements was and is a comedy but deep at heart it's a great Sports Movie about a 2nd chance.
The funny and goofy Washington Teams of Replacement players are funny yet deep inside the movie Gene Hackman (the coach)and Kuene Reeves(Falco) go very deep into their characters and provide us a glimpse of what a 2nd chance can do to a man.
It doesn't get much better than this.I've seen Keanu Reaves in many movies, and you can say all you want about the Matrix, but the Replacements is his most memorable performance in my mind.And what can I say about Gene Hackman that hasn't already been said?
Keanu is cool as quarterback who has trouble getting beyond his last performance, a major melt-down in a college bowl game; Hackman is great (as always) as coach who has little time to put team together from scratch.
THE REPLACEMENTS (2000) *** Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton, Jack Warden, Jon Favreau, Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans, Michael Jace, Ace Yonamine, Michael `Bear' Taliferro, Faizon Love, David Denman, Troy Winbush,  Gailard Sartain, (John Madden & Pat Summerall as themselves).
The film is a pleasant surprise in such a hoary genre leading to The Big Game and the stock villain, this time the real football team on strike and causing trouble for the regular guys taking their places.
Not everyday of course, but when I would like a good movie that is fun and leaves me feeling happier for having watched it, The Replacements fits the bill quite well.
Keanu Reeves gives a good performances as Shane Falco, a washed-up football quaterback who can now play as a replacement on a washed-up football team with other replacement players.
I never knew that a movie about football, one of my least favorite sports, could be this good!.
You want grit and drama, go see "Any Given Sunday."  Me, I was cracking up over the movie, and no, I was not drooling all over Keanu Reeves (truth be told, I went coz I like Gene Hackman, who doesn't?)And I only wish I knew (since I've never seen him before) if the guy who plays the deaf player is really deaf...
I went in there expecting to see the Bad News Bears plays football, but what I got was a very funny movie.
Believe it when you see it, because Keanu makes one great football hero.After a humiliating loss at a past Sugar Bowl game, Shane Falco is a retired quarterback recruited by coach McGintey (Gene Hackman)to finish out the season for the Washington Sentinels, whose "real" players have gone on strike.
Sure, the plot and motifs were predictable, some of the jokes were overdone, and Keanu Reeves as quarterback Shane Falco was as wooden as Pinocchio's stunt double, but the key word here is "entertaining."  Much of the enjoyable parts of the movie came from the replacement players and their antics.
I'm not a big football fan, but I thought this movie was hilarious and Keanu Reeves is Hot, Hot, Hot.
This movie starts out with a great cast, besides Reeves, there's Gene Hackman, Rhys Ifans, Jon Favreau and the 7up guy who's obsessed with Gloria Gaynor.
They are balanced out by the more subdued but still entertaining performances by Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton and the guys who played the deaf player and the Christian player.
The Replacements does not promise to be any more than it is, a comedy football movie.