# Replacements, The (2000)

### reviewed by
Christian Pyle

    The Replacements
    Reviewed by Christian Pyle
    Directed by Howard Deutch
    Written by Vince McKewin
    Starring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton, Jack Warden, Jon
    Favreau, Rhys Ifans, and Orlando Jones
    Grade: C+

Once upon a time, the professional football players went on strike with four games left in the regular season. The owner of the Washington Sentinels (Jack Warden) orders his head coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) to find a team of replacement players. His choices: quarterback Shane "Footsteps" Falco (Keanu Reeves), who was headed for the pros before an embarrassing loss in the Sugar Bowl; defensive player Daniel Bateman (Jon Favreau), a psycho SWAT cop; kicker Nigel Gruff (Rhys Ifans), a Welsh soccer player; wide receiver Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones), who runs like the wind but can't catch the ball; two gigantic guards (Faizon Love and Michael Taliferro); a deaf guy (David Denman); a preacher (Troy Winbush); a convict (Michael Jace); and a sumo wrestler (Ace Yonamine). Meanwhile, head cheerleader Annabelle Farrell (Brooke Langton) is looking for a new squad and finds exotic dancers.

"The Replacements" provides many good laughs. My favorite is a scene where Franklin leads the team in a chorus of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." The mixture of backgrounds and personality quirks among the players leads to some hilariously unconventional plays, made all the funnier by the running commentary from announcers John Madden and Pat Summerall.

Favreau steals the show. He plays the psycho to the hilt, charging wild-eyed like a furious bull into the other players. Jones, a veteran of "MAD TV" and the star of the "Make 7-UP Yours" commercials, also is a reliable laugh-factory. The rest of the cast is considerably weaker, and several of the characters are barely developed. I generally hate Reeves, but in "Replacements" he doesn't give me an excuse; he plays it straight up the middle: no stoner dude, no cyberpunk messiah. Hackman seems to be enjoying his vacation from real acting, and he dispenses nuggets of wisdom with authority.

I wasn't too far into "The Replacements" before I began to compare it to 1989's "Major League." Although they're about different sports, the plots are the same (a bunch of misfits have to merge into a team in order to make it to the championship). Of the two, "Major League" is by far the better movie because it devotes more time to developing not only the characters but also their relationships. In "The Replacements," for example, there's an animosity between Favreau's cop and Jace's convict because of their career choices, but the filmmakers don't take it any farther. However, in "Major League," Corbin Bernsen's snob hates Charlie Sheen's ex-con, and the tension is advanced when Bernsen's wife seduces Sheen.

On the other hand, "The Replacements" is much better than either of the sequels to "Major League."

Bottom line: In a laugh-free summer, this may be your only relief.

    © 2000 Christian L. Pyle

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