The Sports film, especially the Football film, has a long proud history. It made Ronald Reagan a star and has served as the background for everything from smart comedies like HEAVEN CAN WAIT to horror films such as THE FACULTY to thrillers about terrorism like BLACK SUNDAY to tear jerkers the likes of BRIAN'S SONG, and of course there has been the teenage genre and it's VARSITY BLUES like retreads. But the straight up football action/adventure films like NUMBER ONE, THE LONGEST YARD, SEMI-TOUGH, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, and NORTH DALLAS FORTY are Father Geek's favorites. And it is into this arena that THE REPLACEMENTS finds itself placed. To survive and trive there is as tough as the sport itself. Everything must click. All the team players must fit together like a well oiled machine. The Bishop sent Father Geek his review today, and this motion picture seems to have fallen just a yard short at the end of the game. Here's what he had to say...
The Replacements By The Bishop Don "Mack" Donald
Teamwork is the cornerstone to any decent sports team, and teamwork is also what makes the sports movie work at a maximum level. Some athletic films don’t believe in teamwork, thus rendering them (ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, BLUE CHIPS) cynical and condescending. THE REPLACEMENTS is a new football story about teammates, not stars. About a love for the game, not greed. It’s also a funny and silly sports film that is nothing new to most audiences, just a gentle reworking of a million clichés we’ve seen before.
Keanu Reeves stars as Shane Falco, a former college quarterback who now spends his days scraping sea bacteria off the underbellies of yachts. When a NFL strike shuts down the season for the professional players, retired coach McGinty (Gene Hackman) recruits a eclectic group of former players to form a new team for the Washington Senators and finish out the football season.
The script by Vince McKewin, as I mentioned earlier, is nothing to write home about. A retooling and outright theft of many sport film clichés, THE REPLACEMENTS could be very easily dismissed if it wasn’t so lovable. Director Howard Deutch has fashioned a career out of lovable "bad" films (ARTICLE 99) but of lately has dwindled to generating utter crap (GRUMPIER OLD MEN, ODD COUPLE 2). THE REPLACEMENTS brings Deutch back to square one in terms of material, and he makes the best of it. By keeping the spirits high and the logic loose, the film works much better than it deserves to.
There are two things that are very wrong with THE REPLACEMENTS, and they are as follows:
1) Poorly constructed. When the Senators begin playing their games, the film keeps a close eye on how the team and their rivals play football. When the Senators begin to win, the film suddenly becomes a highlight reel for all the good plays the team makes instead of keeping a fair balance between the opposing teams. In the final game of the picture, we don’t even see the opposing team make any offensive plays at all. These editing choices robs the characters of the joy of whatever victory they gain. By losing the struggle, how can we enjoy the triumph?
2) The music cues. Some films reach for the best and brightest in current popular music. Others go for small, buried treasures which surprise the audience and goose soundtrack sales. But there are some films out there that do not have a clue what to do with their music and embarrass themselves with idiotic songs. THE REPLACEMENTS actually contains the beat-into-the-ground arena anthems ROCK ‘n’ ROLL PART 2 by Gary Glitter and Queen’s WE WILL ROCK YOU. Also - God help us all - Gloria Gaynor’s I WILL SURVIVE pops up more than once to remind us just how unfortunate it is when songs have low licensing rates. Couple that with some "fresh jams" from C &C Music Factory (!), The Police’s EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE (Hey, these guys had lots of good songs to choose from, why must we stick to just this one?) and two, count ‘em two Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch cues. And this isn’t even a period piece. Yuck.
Even with a lousy soundtrack, THE REPLACEMENTS survives with the help of it’s actors. I am a fan of Keanu Reeves. There, I said it. He’s a good, solid performer and always becomes the dramatic base in which other actors can bounce off of. THE REPLACEMENTS being the first film of his post-MATRIX success, Reeves seems to be enjoying the rugged role of a burned out quarterback with a lot to prove and little profit to show for it. He’s smart in the role where other actors would have been arrogant. Gene Hackman is a master, so it’s no surprise that he brings to the table another fantastic performance as the warm and knowing coach. The role even gives Hackman a chance to smile and laugh. The rest of the fine ensemble includes: Orlando Jones (the current spokesman for 7-Up, but most importantly a scene stealer in Mike Judge’s OFFICE SPACE), Rhys Ifans (The slob from NOTTING HILL), Faizon Love, Brook Langton, Jack Warden, and nearly stealing the film, Jon Favreau (SWINGERS) as an deranged cop-turned-defenseman.
Those looking for a small diversion before the football season begins should really respond to THE REPLACEMENTS. It’s nothing special, yet provides a good time and some substantial football action before the other, pretentious looking, football film REMEMBER THE TITANS with Denzel Washington opens in late September.7/10
