Sorry for the late posting, loyal readers. RG had a "test" that he needed to "study for" last night, and asked me to cover for him. And because I'm such a nice guy, I agreed. For a price. Terms to be discussed at a later date. On to the good stuff...
The Replacements is a film that rivals my previous GPM choice, Independence Day, for the Most Played Movie on the Turner Broadcasting Family of Networks award. And every time it's on, I have to watch at least 10 minutes of it for no logical reason. For those of you who don't know, The Replacements goes a little something like this: Multi-millionaire pro-football players want more money from the league and go on strike, and a bunch of washouts and nobodys is brought in to be replacement players so the league doesn't lose quite as much money. Gene Hackman's Jimmy McGinty, a washout coach in his own right, is brought in by the owner of the Washington Sentinels to lead a group of scabs (still better than the Redskins!) that includes a corrections officer, a convict, a Sumo wrestler, a deaf wide receiver, and a Welsh soccer player with mob debts. Naturally, with all these diverse personalities in the same place, hijinks ensue. None of these men really knows how to play football except Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a former stud college quarterback whose star fell after a disastrous showing in the Sugar Bowl years before. The rest of it goes pretty much how you'd expect. The replacement players fail miserably in their first couple games, but after they bond in a bar fight with the Sentinel players who are on strike, they begin to find their groove and Falco becomes the leader he was always meant to be.
There are some genuinely funny moments in the movie, most of which are provided by Jon Favreau's Daniel Bateman and Orlando Jones' cocky-but-clueless wide receiver Clifford Franklin. Even Keanu Reeves doesn't bother me here like he does almost everywhere else. The writers and casting agents don't assume he can act and don't ask him to do more than he is capable of. And Gene Hackman can do the motivational hardass coach bit in his sleep, so you really can't go wrong there. Especially with the retro straw hat.
If you've ever seen a sports movie, then you've seen the basic plot of The Replacements. No surprises, no twists. But nevertheless, the formula is satisfying, and when the team wins, you feel good. That's really what we're all looking for in sports movies, and while some have undeniably done it better, The Replacements is an enjoyable two hours. And if you haven't seen it, don't worry. It'll be on TBS this weekend, I'm sure.
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6 comments:
I absolutely hated this film when I saw it back in 2000. The movie is loosely based on the NFLPA strike of 1987, making the slapstick elements of the film seem completely out of place. Why base a film on an actual event and then reduce it to a series of easy jokes with the obvious QB-gets-cheerleader side story?
Perhaps my real problem with this movie is the presence of Keanu Reeves. I challenge you to name one film that he has improved by participating in its creation. His acting abilities are so limited that they have become a social caricature. The Replacements is no different.
I won't take that challenge, because I know it to be an impossible one. I'm not defending Keanu at all, I think he's terrible, but for the most part he's given roles that actually require emoting and gravitas, and that's not the case in The Replacements. It's not like the Shane Falco character is anything special, so Keanu can just be there and recite his lines. So because of that, he doesn't completely destroy the movie for me like he does in, say, well...just name a Keanu movie. Except the first "Matrix" movie. I don't mind him there, either.
A Scanner Darkly?
I think it's already been at least three times since you posted.
How can you hate a movie that is this harmless? This was during Orlando Jones' 7-Up Guy hayday and anything Rhys Ifans does is guaranteed to at least get a smile.
Also Roy from the Office plays the deaf tight end.
Probably not a good sign when your best role in a film requires a heavy amount of computer animation to cover up your acting abilities.
Well, I haven't seen My Own Private Idaho, but I've heard it's good.
I thought he was okay in The Devil's Advocate.
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