Starring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton, Jack Warden, Jon Favreau, Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans, John Madden, Pat Summerhall. Written by Vince McKewin. Directed by Howard Deutch. Pro Football and their players are headed for a strike with only four games remaining. The Washington Sentinels need to win three out of their last four to make the playoffs, something it hasn't done in seven years. The owners have decided to finish the season with replacement players, and the crusty owner (Warden) has decided to turf his current coach and bring back Jimmy McGinty (Hackman), a retired coach he had turfed several coaches ago. McGinty insists he be able to select his own players, and picks such misfits he has scouted before and like including a sumo wrestler, a few gangsters, a chain-smoking Welsh soccer player (Ifans) to kick, and a former pro temporarily allowed out of jail just to play. He also brings in former Sugar Bowl star Shane Falco (Reeves) as quarterback who fizzled in the big game, and hasn't been heard from since. It isn't just the players that are on strike - the cheerleaders need replacing and head cheerleader Annabelle (Langton) is forced to select a group of local strippers to the squad. The striking players don't take too kindly to the scabs temporarily taking their jobs, and goes as far as egging the team bus and tipping Falco's old pickup. The Sentinels play a good first game, but lose a close one at the buzzer. The strikers show up at the bar the new Sentinels are drowning their sorrows in to razz the replacements. They start a fight, but the strikers get the crap kicked out of them. Better bonded as a team, the players face the daunting task in playing better and more experienced teams and having to win all three to make the playoffs. While it could have been just another dumb jock movie, The Replacements is surprisingly witty and well-made, although there is plenty of jock humour. But it is thankfully far more intelligent than the Dumb and Dumber / Something About Mary grossout stupidity of a lot of today's comedies. The jokes are consistently fresh, and well-executed by a capable cast. While loosely based on the 1987 N.F.L. players strike, the teams and events are not based on any of those players and games. It is primarily a formula film, but the formula is executed well. Each game comes down to one final play that will win or lose the game. But the events are crafted in a way to emphasize the importance of team bonding that successful teams need, and the need for playing with heart, something the film suggests is lacking in professionals concerned mainly with the money. The plot revolves closely around the four football games, and much film time is spent on the games. The action is well filmed and authentic, and the actors are quite believable as athletes. Instead of just showing only the spectacular plays, different facets of the game are shown over the course of the four games such as strategy, such as where a play will be wasted or penalty taken to make a point with the other team. The film is a bit more manipulative than it had to be. The striking players are universally loathsome spoiled brats, who only care about their endorsement contracts and expensive lifestyles. The replacement players are crude but loyal and hard-working "losers" who just want a chance to play football. The skinny, "wiry", chain-smoking kicker with no experience, or even practice can belt out picture-perfect 65 yard field goals. And of course, the happy-ending result of the final game can be spotted a mile away. But because the football feels so authentic, the implausibilities don't stand out. As in Speed and The Matrix, Reeves is quite capable in action films, and is quite believable as an athlete, and his usual emotionless delivery is actually an asset in playing the calm and cool quarterback with a lot of heart, someone a bunch of football players could rally around. While he's fine on the field, he's less than stellar in the romantic scenes, but thankfully they are brief and infrequent. The real heart of the film and possibly the chief reason it rises a bit above the normal sports film is the performance of Gene Hackman, who is wonderful as the gruff coach sick of professional athletes, but loyal and always believing in his ragtag group of players. He consistently sells the values of teamwork, loyalty and heart, never giving up when things start to go downhill. Favreau is way out of character and way over the top as the just-a-bit psychotic swat team cop who relishes the pain, both giving and receiving, and he dials it down just often enough for it to work. North Dallas Forty, a scathing satire of pro sports and the Dallas Cowboys (and what better puffed-up team to satire), is the best football film ever and one of the top sports films because it treated the game with respect even as it joked about various aspects of the pro game. While The Replacements by no means reaches that level, the replacement players consistently play their hearts out, play as a team and relish the chance to play, despite getting the snot pounded out of each of them, and the film does respect the game. The Replacements is actually a good film, and worth seeing for even those besides Keanu Reeves fans. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page