The Replacements

With the NFL season under way tonight, I am gonna talk about a film about Pro football. There really are no movies that revolve around the NFL because of the rights the NFL holds, so every movie about pro football all have different team names than in reality. If you can get past that most of these films are enjoyable, but the funniest one ever made has got to be The Replacements. Having absolutely no pre-conceived notions about this movie when I first saw it 8 years ago. Since then I have seen it 20 + times and it is more enjoyable every time.  It is the perfect combination of action, humor, and puking. What I love about this movie is how the owner of the Washington Sentinels put together these "has beens" to finish out the season, because they don't see the point in paying decent prospects to finish a season with now hope for reward. These players didn't make it the first time for a reason. Like, Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones), is a speedster that may as well have stumps instead of hands. He is a wide receiver that doesn't make his first catch until he loads his palms with sticky glue. Oh man, you would have thought he was the best receiver of all time, especially listening to Clifford's post game interview. Then there's Gene Hackman. Having Gene in a film automatically gets it clout. Gene plays the replacement coach who personally recruits Collegiate All American, Sugar Bowl Failure Shane Falco (Keanu), now in his thirties and never played a single pro game, he jumps at the opportunity. The depth of characters is so vast and each character gets lots of screen time and a lot of back story. The bouncer brothers, the Welsh soccer player with a gambling problem, the sumo wrestler, the ex con, the strippers as cheerleaders, and the cop. Danny, the cop, played by Jon Favreau, is the funniest guy in the movie. He's all go, no quit, and intensely funny. Have you ever experienced intensely funny. You should. When these guys finally figure out the plan, they really come together to make a run at it. "It" being making the playoffs? Not even close. They just wanna get a couple "W's" in their brief professional career. I like the movie for what it is. A great look at what athletes would do for another shot at glory. With brilliant dialogue, good action, and a great bar fight scene, where Danny is slamming a guys head into the bar repeatedly screaming, "who's the man?" gets me every time. It quickly became a movie I couldn't pass up, and if you haven't seen this, get it, watch it, love it, and start quoting it. With the NFL in jeopardy of actually having a players strike next year, this movie really hits home. As crappy as a season with "scab" players would be, I would still watch every game, because I am a fan of the game, not necessarily the players. I hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, I am gonna campaign for The Tennessee Titans to sign up number 16 and get Shane Falco back on the field.

NBM rates The Replacements - Phenomenal

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