“I look at you and I see two men: the man you are, and the man you ought to be. Someday those two will meet. Should make for a hell of a football player. ” – Jimmy McGinty
Number of Times Seen – Twice (15 May 2001 and 14 Sep 2021)
Brief Synopsis – After professional football players begin to strike, the teams need to bring in replacement players until the strike is settled.
My Take on it – Fun film that is able to keep things light and enjoyable throughout.
The film has a Major League (1989) kind of vibe, but still feels unique in what it tries to accomplish.
The cast is great with Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman and jack Warden giving nice performances.
the supporting cast is filled with a lot of eccentric characters and the ones played by Rhys Ifans and Jon Favreau stand out the most among them all.
The story plays out well and manages to balance the comedic moments with more subtle ones that show the professional (an unprofessional) ways that these characters play the game.
They also get right the idea of how certain ‘talents’ act in the world of free agency and strikes.
The games are shot well and help keep things thrilling to watch even if this isn’t among the very best films about the sport of football.
Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The Washington team is loosely based on the 1987 replacement Washington Redskins, who won all three of their “replacement” games. The “real” Redskins returned for Week 7 through to the Super Bowl, which they also won. After winning the Super Bowl, the franchise rarely if ever gave the replacement players any credit for the team’s success. When the Redskins players received their Super Bowl rings, none of the replacement players received a ring even though it was said that had they not won their games, the team may not have made the playoffs let alone win the Super Bowl. However, after 30 years, the Redskins are finally going to recognize the replacement players’ contribution and finally give them their Super Bowl rings. This was announced in March of 2018. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)
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