When someone mentions an “oldie” but goodie movie many people think of deep and substantial movies like Titanic and Silence of the Lambs. Very rarely does a comedy or sports film make it to that list. However there is the rare exception when a comedy turns into an oldie but a goodie and that exception is The Replacements starring Keanu Reeves. Sure it might not be the oldest oldie, being only 18 years old, but this comedic sports film deserves to be up there. Loosely based on the 1987 NFL strike this film takes place in a fictional Football league during a player strike. Washington Sentinels owner Edward O’Neil(Jack Warden) calls on a previously fired coach, Jimmy McGinty(Gene Hackman), to pull together a replacement team for the final four games of the season, and as a small favor wants him to win 3 out of the next 4 games to get the Sentinels into the playoffs. McGinty accepts and pulls together his own ragtag team of replacements consisting of, a disgraced college quarterback(Keanu Reeves), a chain smoking soccer player who can ealy kick 50 yard field goals, a running back who can run but can’t catch, and a sumo wrestler as an offensive tackle. This outrageous team is just the tip of the iceberg to this movie.
Overall this film is expertly crafted as both a sports film and a comedy. This film keeps at its heart the sports nature of this film and makes sure not to skip a thing from team building to the extremely intense games. However it doesn’t go to far as to be just another sports film. For one, in some sense it doesn’t have the traditional sports film ending, as to how it end you will just have to watch it to find out. Another way it diverges from the sports genre stereotype is the way it portrays women. It doesn’t take the typical stance where the cheerleaders are just cheerleaders and the players girlfriends but rather the cheerleaders provide important roles in the film. Admittedly the head cheerleader is Keanu’s girlfriend but she also knows much more about football and its strategy than he does and throughout the film she gives him advice on how to improve and stay out of sticky situations. Also the chearleaders, all of them being stripers replacing the actual chear leaders on strike, help win the game for the Sentinels by distracting the opposition and causing a very important turnover.
The final way it prevents itself from becoming just another sports film is through its clever use of comedy. This use of comedy doesn’t just help to break up the sports and make the film appeal to a wider audience but it also is used to advance the plot. The below scene shows a perfect example of this. Sure it is funny to see 20 very serious football players dance around a jail cell but this scene also shows them becoming a team and trusting each other like they hadn't been doing previously. Through this clever use of comedy this movie achieved much more than most sports movies. This comedy really helped to emphasize the importance of friendship, trust, and teamwork and how crazy, joyful, and powerful it can be. No other scene would send such a powerful message than fully grown men singing and dancing around a jail cell.
Sure this movie is great and all but what makes it worthy of the title “oldie but goodie” and is it worth watching over and over again. This is what stops most comedies from becoming oldies but goodies because over time jokes get dated and if you watch it too many times the jokes become less humorous. What is different about The Replacements is that the type of humor they use doesn’t get dated. Also the film doesn’t just rely on humor, it also has the sports aspect of it and the sense of satisfaction you get from certain scenes in the movie. And finally, the reason I love this movie so much, is that it has so many layers and subtle things that you notice each time you watch it. As my wise Aunt once said “you notice something new everytime you watch it.” For instance it was about my 10th rewatch where someone noticed that Keanu Reeves can’t do the electric slide. Notice how in the above scene when you see Keanu Reeves’ character dancing, around time 2:27, his face is covered by his hat and you only see his face when he isn’t dancing. This leads me to believe that it was Keanu’s double that was actually dancing for him because Keanu doesn’t have enough rhythm to do the electric slide. It is for this pursuit of discovery that I keep watching this movie time and time again without having it wear out.
Overall I give it a Good, Good rating.
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