To Win You Have To Have Heart

Everyone at the office has been busy talking about this great movie called “The Replacements”. I had not seen any previews or "hype" about the movie. Everything seemed to be about Hallow Man and Bless This Child. I kept hearing statements such as “it’s the sleeper of the summer” and “it’s the best movie I’ve seen lately”.

I understood it was about a NFL strike and a replacement football team made up of unusual characters. Out of curiosity, my husband and I went to a Sunday matinee.

This movie is GREAT! I chuckled, I laughed, I bubbled inside with joy and I walked out of the theater with that “happy-feel-good” feeling.

It begins in 1987 with the NFL strike. Gene Hackman is brought in to select and coach a replacement team for the season. His selection of players includes everything from a sumo wrestler to a search-and-destroy SWAT fanatic. Keanu Reeves comes to the team as their quarterback. It seems that Keanu’s character had a lot of potential to go pro but “blew it” in the last game he played which was the Sugar Bowl. The result of the team is a bunch of good hearted, lovable players who are given a second chance at playing “the game”.

Naturally there are conflicts with the NFL players that are on strike in an attempt to prevent them from crossing the picket line but all was done very tastefully and most had some sort of humor attached. No one was stunned, maimed or killed.

The cheerleaders. They are exotic dancers from “the club by the airport”, are funny, cute, and create quite a distraction at one game.

Events happen, games are played and “the replacements” are much better than anyone ever thought. They end up making it to the championship but never intended to play the real Cowboy’s. The Cowboy’s had “crossed-over” and were back on the field.

I don’t want to divulge some of the good lines in the movie or the end. It is a fun and happy movie to see and I found it very entertaining. I believe it is the best movie I have seen this summer and is truly “a sleeper”. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys football, watching the “under dog” attempt to make it big (mostly with heart) and who can laugh at their antics, perseverance and efforts for one final chance to win “the big one”.