Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

The Replacements

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for some crude sexual humor and language.

Reviewed by: Sean Bogaard
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Teens, Adults
Genre: Sports Comedy Drama
Length: 1 hr. 45 min.
Year of Release: 2000
USA Release:
Keanu Reeves in The Replacements Orlando Jones as Clifford Franklin in “The Replacements”
Featuring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Jon Favreau, Brooke Langton
Director Howard Deutch
Producer Dylan Sellers
Distributor Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures. Trademark logo.Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “Success is often a matter of blind luck, and some deserving people, talented in their own right, never get a crack at it. Such has been the fate of Shane “Footsteps” Falco, once a hot All American prospect on the football field. Shane can only regret what’s behind him, and can’t even begin to imagine what’s ahead. But Fate is not through with Shane. When League players decide to strike, leaving the prospect of empty fields (and equally empty stadiums) for team owners to contemplate, the Washington Sentinels scramble for a solution. When they bring contentious and self-retired head coach Jimmy McGinty back into the fold, McGinty seeks out players who will play with their hearts rather than their wallets.

For the League, the situation is a disaster, but for Shane and a mismatched crew of outsiders, it’s a second chance to grab at sports stardom. As they amaze everyone with their winning streak, the ragtag group discovers in itself the ability to hope for more than they ever thought possible, maybe even the playoffs, which has been denied to the Sentinels for seven years.”


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive—This movie is about American Football. Ravens stadium is the setting. Allthough this movie was filmed in Baltimore, the main team in question is called The Washington Sentinels. The plot of the movie is as follows: The league is filled with overpaid and bloated ego players that are going to strike on order for more money. The league however will not bow down to the demands of the players and thus they let the strike buil dup. Instead of laying the whole league down untill the strike is over, they descide to get replacement player in for the real players and let them continue the season.
This of course is the perfect entry for comedy. Putting tired, worn out and down right crazy players on a field and letting them run wild. Of course during the movie this is the cause of a lot of funny moments, but the general feeling about this movie is the so called “Disney” effect. The feel good genre that disney has created seems to have spread amongst the Hollywood crowd. In this movie this is clear as a bell and is visible from the get go. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is setting for the entire movie.
A nice side memo is that Keanu Reeves was actually so good at playing quaterback that the Baltimore Ravens asked him to try out. After the try out they wanted to offer him a job, but Reeves denied, because he wanted to stay at his current job as an actor.
This movie has no general moral rating from a christian point of view. It does have a certain way to get people to care about the small guy. The person who just didn;t make it. Who just couldn’t hack it. And the guy who always got picked last in gym class.
So overall The replacements is a descent football movie. All sports fans and football fans will find this movie very entertaining. All fans of the comedy genre will find this movie somewhat funny at times and all other fans will see this movie as a feel good themed movie. My Ratings: [Good/3]
Sean Bogaard, Holland, age 22
Positive—I went with my husband to see this movie, even though I don’t like football. I really enjoyed it! (Except for the sleazy cheerleaders, which we both thought were distasteful.) I don’t usually like Keanu Reeves, but he did wonderfully in this movie, as did Gene Hackman. A movie that left us with a happy, refreshing, good feeling when we left the theater. My Ratings: [3/3½]
HC, age 23
Positive—This movie was good, but the profanity, and hints of cheerleader lesbianism should have been left out. It was a good story about giving people a second chance. My Ratings: [2½/4]
Bill Boylston, age 41
Neutral—…an entertaining movie, even though I don’t really like football. The cheerleaders are a tad risque, but other than that a fairly decent movie. My Ratings: [3/3]
Chris Vasquez, age 18
Negative—Wake-up call to Christians: I was surprised to see so many positive comments about this movie. I wanted to see this movie, thinking that it may have the charm of “Hoosiers” (Gene Hackman = great actor) and I was extremely disappointed. The movie not only included gratuitous swearing and sexually perverse jokes, but the plot was thin and predictable. I felt polluted in mind and spirit by this movie. My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 1½]
Elicia, age 31
Positive—A lot better than I was expecting. “The Replacements” does a lot more with football than “Field Of Dreams” did with baseball. Funny, fast paced, almost believable… I really enjoyed this film. Fine acting, and hey, even a bunch of decent character development. As others have mentioned, there is one sleezy cheerleader scene—this is not a film for children—but little else is offensive. No nudity, and not even one sex scene in the entire film despite the romance subplot. This is the go gettem underdog dark horse upstart movie of the year that rides the fine line between comedy and believable drama. Recommended, especially if you like football. My Ratings: [3/4½]
Todd Adams, age 32
Positive—For a comedy, this was a great film. Crude humor, sexual innuendos, and regular worldly stuff. But, it was a good film (from a movie-making and plot standpoint, that is). My Ratings: [2½/5]
Doug, age 19
Positive—This movie was great! It was absolutely hilarious and had great football action. Delivered wonderful message about playing for glory and greatness and for the love of the game instead of playing for money and being greedy. In one of the great lines of the movie Hackman says “Greatness, no matter how brief, stays with a man.” Reeves explains that “Glory lasts forever.” Wonderful movie. There was a considerable portion of foul language a locker room mooning, but fairly clean compared to most of today’s movies. My Ratings: [3/4½]
Bill Jones, age 17
Positive—I thought it was a very good and entertaining movie if you look past some of the somewhat risque parts. If you are interested in sports (espescially football), I would recommend it. It was very funny and had me and my comrades laughing almost throughout the whole movie. Some of the humor was intended for an older audience because of some language (Though they never said the F-word, they did occasionally say mother—without finishing the phrase.) and some crude humor. The cheerleaders acted somewhat seductively, which succeeded in causing the opposite team to make mistakes, but I thought the focus stayed on the game rather than the cheerleaders for the most part. Because of the language and humor, nobody under thirteen should see it without a parent. I thought it was well done, and had a interesting plot and subtheme. I plan on seeing it again and hope others will too. My Ratings: [3/4½]
Russell Martin, age 14
Positive—To sum up the movie in a few short words… Major League meets The Longest Yard… Keanu Reeves was entertaining in this role. Hackman was brilliant as usual. The story line was fun (fast paced, but fun.) I was able to let myself go and just enjoy this movie for what it was. When you go to see a movie like this, you usually know what’s in store anyway… Another sports movie starring “the underdogs.” Needless to say, there was definitely no exception here. There was some sexual insinuation throughout this movie, but like I said… “it’s another sports movie starring the underdogs.” If you are easily offended by sexual insinuation, then you probably should not see this movie. If worldly viewpoints don’t bother you so much, and you have a good sense of humor as well, then you’ll probably enjoy this one as much as I did. I rate this movie a well deserved (8). My Ratings: [3/4]
Rocco, age 33
Positive—I am very biased in my rating of this movie. You see, my son was hired as a sideline extra while vacationing in Baltimore. He spent 3 months living with grandma while filming. Best of all, he actually made it to the screen. You gotta look fast! Before the last play of the last game against Dallas, they show a shot across the field of the sideline. My son #64 is standing in the middle of the screen with his helmet in his hand. Also! The marina where Falco lives on his boat is about 3 blocks from where I grew up. I/we now live in San Antonio. There are references to sexual activity. But, the violence and language are controlled. The only nudity is the players in their underwear. I really enjoyed the movie! It has a message to it. You gotta have heart. My Ratings: [3/4]
John K. Barry Sr., age 41
Positive—I had been waiting for this movie too come out for a while and while it wasn’t everything I thought it would be, it was still pretty good. It’s not the greatest movie, but leaving the theater I had really enjoyed it. Keanu Reeves turns in a pretty good performance (which is quite rare) and Gene Hackman is great in the movie. Good message and a lot of great lines about playing the sport for glory and not money. Shuns greed. There is some bad language, including one f-word. The idea of strippers turned cheerleaders is not very Godly, nor is their actions on the sidelines, but there’s no nudity or sex. My Ratings: [2½/3½]
Britt Andrews, age 16
Movie Critics
…the language is raw and there is a high level of sexual humor…
Michael Elliott, Movie Parables
…various shots of strippers-turned cheerleaders who do suggestive and sensuous dance routines…
ScreenIt!
…If you were waiting for my list of positives about the film, there are none…
Dave Gunn, Casa De Cinema
…a frankly formulaic, but agreeably funny comedy…
Joe Leydon, Variety
…references to lap-dancing, oral sex, masturbation and homosexuality…
Kids-in-Mind