The Replacements

Director: Howard Deutch Howard Deutch

Overview

The 1987 National Football League players' strike inspired this sports-themed comedy. The Washington Sentinels are one of the strongest teams in pro football -- until contract negotiations break down and the Sentinels go on strike. Determined to play the team's schedule, owner Edward O'Neil (Jack Warden) recruits a ragtag band of scab players, to be headed up and whipped into shape by the retired veteran coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman). At the top of the recruitment list is quarterback Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a promising athlete until a catastrophic defeat in the Sugar Bowl dashed his confidence. Joining Falco on the team are Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones), a receiver who can't catch the ball; Nigel Gruff (Rhys Ifans), a chain-smoking Welsh soccer player; Bateman (Jon Favreau), a former cop with anger management problems; Fumiko (Ace Yonamine), a sumo wrestler new to football; and Wilkinson (Michael Jace), a convict on parole to the Sentinels. Can McGinty mold his new squad of misfits and no-hopers (who truly love the game) into a winning team? Brooke Langton plays Annabelle, head of the Sentinels' cheerleading squad (who has to contend with replacements of her own), and football commentators John Madden and Pat Summerall appear as themselves.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2009
UPC:	0883929091591
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	16,353

Special Features

Closed Caption; 2 behind-the-scenes documentaries, HBO first look: The Replacements and making the plays: an actor's guide to football; Feature-length audio commentary by director Howard Deutch; Cast/director film highlights; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Keanu Reeves	Shane Falco
Gene Hackman	Jimmy McGinty
Brooke Langton	Annabelle Farrell
Orlando Jones	Clifford Franklin
Jon Favreau	Daniel Bateman
Jack Warden	Edward O'Neil
Rhys Ifans	Nigel Gruff
Michael Jace	Earl Wilkinson
Troy Winbush	Walter Cochran
Michael Taliferro	Andre Jackson
Faizon Love	Jamal Jackson
Brett Cullen	Eddie Martel
John Madden	Himself
Pat Summerall	Himself
David Denman	Brian Murphy
Ace Yonamine	Jumbo Fumiko
Gregory L. Williams	Edwards, Dwight
Sarah Ann Morris	Actor
Keith David	Actor
Elisa Jacobs	Actor
Greg Goossen	Drunk #2
Seymour Horowitz	Actor
Cliff McMullen	Policeman #1
E. Dawn Samuel	Actor
Art LaFleur	Banes
James Black	Ref #3
Craig Sechler	Reporter #3
Zachary Young	Kid in Liquor Store
Robert Shepherd	Reporter #4
Dylan Sellers	League Commissioner
John Debney	Composer
Michelle Johnston	Fumiko's Girl
F. Schmidt	Maryland Corrections Officer
Caroline Keenan	Dawn
Marty Wright	Butler
Bob Angelo	Gangster #2
Ken Martin	Sentinal Cheerleader
Elliot Balis	Sentinal Cheerleader
Andrea Barnes	Wannabee Cheerleader
Edward Beckford	News Reporter
Gailard Sartain	Actor
Tom Barry	Mini-mart Customer
Mara Berman	Wannabee Cheerleader
Al Brown	Actor
Michael Brinkman	Phoenix Head Coach
Richard Pilcher	Actor
Robyn Peterson	Actor
Todd Champagne	Detroit Linebacker
Mark Robert Ellis	Actor
Stella Choe	Asian Cheerleader
John Clark	Dallas Linebacker
Tous publics	Actor
Carol Caesar	Wannabee Cheerleader
Laura L. Cottrel	Sentinal Cheerleader
Michelle Courtney	Wannabee Cheerleader
Dave Cureton	Matheson
Amber Dulski	Sentinal Cheerleader
Marcia Dor Etain	Wannabee Cheerleader
Leanna Foglia	Wannabee Cheerleader
Jon K. Farless	Ref #4
Tim Estep	Sentinal Cheerleader
Jon Garcia	O'Neil's Assistant
Levis Francis	Sentinal Cheerleader
Andrea Graham	Wannabee Cheerleader
Archie L. Harris Jr.	Wilson Carr
Len Greenblatt	Wannabee Cheerleader
Robert Vique	Man on the Street #1
Jesper Inglis	Washington Player
Seanna Zimmerman	Sentinal Cheerleader
Jaya Kanal	Wannabee Cheerleader
Milinda A. Jefferson	Sentinal Cheerleader
Renee Latimore	Sentinal Cheerleader
Tom Korzenioski	Drunk #1
Kenward Lee	Korean Store Owner
Christian Lyon	Bartender #1
William J. McKeon III	Biker #1
Eric Miller	Detroit Lineman
Royan Miller	Wannabee Cheerleader
Paul Morella	Gangster #1
Russell Marcum	Wannabee Cheerleader
Pete Ohnegian	Washington Center
Todd Eric Yeaman	Washington Offensive Tackle
Rhonda Overby	Sideline Reporter
Evan Parke	Malcolm LaMont
Heather Pedersen	Wannabee Cheerleader
Michelle Pinkham	Wannabee Cheerleader
Mia Reeves	Wannabee Cheerleader
Emily Roberts	Sentinal Cheerleader
Gemma Roskam	Wannabee Cheerleader
Kevin Reid	Detroit Quarterback
Melissa Musotto	Sentinal Cheerleader
Tyrone Roy	Detroit Linebacker
Nicole Schiro	Wannabee Cheerleader
Stephanie Sutch	Sentinal Cheerleader
Chris Stabile	Sentinal Cheerleader
Margie Tompros	Wannabee Cheerleader
Jamie Vane	Female Reporter
Mary Ann Walsh	Wannabee Cheerleader
Kel Watrin	San Diego Quarterback
Justin Wilson	Sentinal Cheerleader

Technical Credits

Vince McKewin

Howard Deutch	Director
Dylan Sellers	Producer
Vince McKewin	Screenwriter
Jeffrey Chernov	Executive Producer
Steven Reuther	Executive Producer
Erwin Stoff	Executive Producer
Allan Graf	Stunts
Steve Blalock	Stunts
Mark Ginther	Stunts
Dwayne McGee	Stunts
Ralph Scherer	Key Grip

Editorial Reviews

Armchair quarterbacks across the land often hearken back to the glory days of 1987, when the NFL Players Association strike ignited fans' passions for twice-released, balding nose tackles and punters with Buddha-like bellies. Okay, maybe not. Actually, few memories seem less likely to provoke smiles than those of the NFL's '87 labor pains, but The Replacements somehow manages to complete this filmic Hail Mary pass. Going beyond the pale of standard sports farce with a streak of genuine emotion, The Replacements (which updates the strike to the late '90s) scores far more than it fumbles. Scab coach Gene Hackman spells out the film's mantra early on: "Gentlemen, you're paid to play. The men whose places you're taking forgot that." The men whose places they're taking, as you might expect, get quite a drubbing in this film: The road to hell is obviously paved with their egos and driven over by their Ferraris. But the film avoids bogging itself down with anti-unionism and stays afloat thanks to the expectedly snappy rapport among the unlikely misfits haphazardly teamed as the fictional Washington Sentinels. Keanu Reeves is former all-American quarterback Shane Falco -- with a legacy of a disastrous Sugar Bowl blowout four years earlier -- who gets the opportunity to lead the Sentinels and rewrite his own history. Reeves's presence gives The Replacements a unisex attraction -- men get to see a pretty boy get his butt whipped, while women get to see him emerge wondrously from the scrums, his sculpted coif perfectly intact. And Hackman, ever reliable and stodgy, retools his Hoosiers persona to stand as mentor and straight man for these goofy yet admirably resilient heroes.