There is a great movie to be made about the 1987 Washington Redskins replacement players, but for now I’ll certainly accept the “30 for 30” episode “Year of the Scab” and the 2000 movie “The Replacements.” This Keanu Reeves sports-romance-comedy inspired by Redskins replacement quarterback Ed Rubbert is what I call “dumb but good.”
That’s different from Good-Bad, which is how most people would wrongly label it. Here’s a comparison to illustrate the distinction. In “Armageddon,” infamously written by about 20 people, there’s a scene where the astronauts must guess which wire to cut to defuse a military bomb. As Roger Ebert pointed out, the writers confused it with a terrorist bomb, not meant to be easily defused.
In “The Replacements,” not only do the Sentinels hire replacement players, but also replacement cheerleaders. I’m certain this isn’t because writer Vince McKewin and director Howard Deutch think the cheerleaders are part of the players’ union rather than employed by the Sentinels.
“The Replacements” (2000)
Director: Howard Deutch
Writer: Vince McKewin
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton
Rather, it’s because the opportunities for humor are too good to pass up. Notably, the scab cheer team – mainly comprised of strippers – distracts the entire opposing offense, causing a delay of game penalty, by doing sexy moves.
Deutch, revered for his 1986-88 John Hughes collaborations (“Pretty in Pink,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “The Great Outdoors”), mainly does TV work now — I assume because he’s reliable and professional as heck. He doesn’t let his movies run off the rails.
Hackman channels Gibbs’ philosophy
“The Replacements’ ” star is Reeves – coming off “The Matrix” — but the reason it’s good is Gene Hackman as Coach Jimmy McGinty, the Joe Gibbs stand-in. Assembling a team from scratch less than two weeks before their first game is insane, but it really did happen in 1987.
Gibbs’ Redskins had more success than other replacement rosters (going 3-0 and boosting the team to a high playoff seed, which led to the championship) in part because of his attitude. McGinty believes his men are “professional football players,” paid to do a job – something the striking players forgot.
Reeves’ Shane Falco could be a continuation of Johnny Utah from “Point Break,” but Utah found success in law enforcement. Second-chance tales require someone down on their luck, so Falco is a barnacle scraper who lives on his docked boat. He pairs perfectly with Brooke Langton’s Annabelle, a bartender and the cheer-team captain.
Their chemistry is among Reeves’ best with a female costar. It’s highlighted by the closed-bar scene where “Every Breath You Take” plays. Pat Summerall and John Madden’s double-meaning football commentary plays perfectly over Falco’s moves on Annabelle. McKewin and Deutch give the scene a sweet tone whereas lesser filmmakers would emphasize the gag.
Over-the-top yet easy to like
That’s not to say “The Replacements” is down-to-earth. Regular QB Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen) is sleaze personified. While it’s true that players and their families taunted Redskins replacement players amid practices, it’s over-the-top that Martel calls on his goon linemen to flip Falco’s truck and that he makes fun of the replacement tight end for being deaf.
The football scenes feature athleticism and the requisite moment (see also “Varsity Blues”) of a massive O-lineman rumbling to a touchdown, carrying half the opposing team on his back. The in-game logic is often absurd, comical (the wide receiver’s copious use of Stick ’Em) or even outside the boundaries of NFL rules.
I have to ding “The Replacements” for moments such as multiple roughness penalties on one play adding up to 60 yards. In reality, the opposing team can only accept one penalty, therefore it can’t be more than 15 yards. Things like this don’t improve the movie.
What’s odd is that they don’t drastically hurt it either. This is because after every stupid moment, we cut to Hackman, the level-headed, big-picture coach who can brush off small absurdities. He subconsciously tells us it’s OK to smile at this stuff. Then there’s Reeves and Langton, who are cute, natural and pleasant. Although Falco makes the requisite “one stupid decision” amid the courtship, the general vibe is “This is how relationships should be – meaningful but not stressful.”
Plus, “The Replacements” gave us “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever.” Maybe not up there with Kurt Russell in “Miracle,” but not bad for a bunch of scabs.