Stars: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Orlando Jones, Jon Favreau, Brooke Langton, Rhys Ifans, Brett Cullen, Jack Warden, John Madden, Gailard Sartain, Michael Jace, Faizon Love, David Denman, Art Lafleur, Pat Summerall, Michael Taliferro, Troy Winbush, Ace Yonamine

Director: Howard Deutch

Summary: A story about an American football team, composed of a mixture of irregular players, which follows their experiences along with the cheerleaders who used to be strippers.

Inspired by the too-ludicrous-to-be-believed National Football League strike of 1987, Howard Deutch's THE REPLACEMENTS follows a team of scab players as they fill in for the real pros. Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), a compassionate and dedicated coach, is rehired by the owner of the Washington Sentinels to pull together a new crew in order to finish off the season and keep the stadium filled. This includes a safety who is on work release, a lightning-quick wide receiver with bricks for hands, a deranged linebacker-SWAT team member, a chain-smoking Welsh kicker, and Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a former college quarterback who lost his chance at the big time after a disastrous Sugar Bowl appearance. The newly formed squad must learn to set aside its differences if it is to win three out of four games and make it to the playoffs. Along the way, Falco finds himself harassed by the Sentinels' star quarterback, Eddie Martel, as well as falling in love with the team's head cheerleader, Annabelle (Brooke Langton). A final showdown against the strike-breaking reigning champions gives McGinty and Falco one last chance at redemption. Deutch's lighthearted comedy is greatly aided by Hackman and Reeves's surprisingly sincere performances.

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The opening scenes of The Replacementssee American football team, the Washington Sentinels, in dire straits. The players have walked out in a protest over pay at a vital point in the season, forcing the Sentinels' owner to bring veteran coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) out of retirement to put together a replacement team. He assembles a group of oddballs and misfits including failed quarterback Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a boozing Welsh brawler (Rhys Ifans), a convicted former football pro, a deaf mute, a psychopathic ex-cop, a sumo wrestler and a kleptomaniac (Orlando Jones) who has trouble catching the ball. It is Falco's job to pull the team together and overcome his own problems to take the Sentinels to the playoffs. Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Grumpier Old Men) directs this variation on a losers-make-good storyline that runs like Police Academyon the playing field. Keanu plays the Steve Guttenberg role. Sandra Bullock clone Brooke Langton provides the all-too-predictable cheerleading love interest, while Rhys Ifans delivers light relief as the team's chain-smoking kicker.

On the DVD:The main feature is presented in letterboxed widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound in three languages (English, Spanish and Italian). There are optional subtitles in 20 different languages. Interactive menus are slickly designed like the yard markings on an American football field and provide access to a range of special features. As well as a theatrical trailer and commentary by director Howard Deutch, there is a 15-minute HBO special "The Making of the Replacements" hosted by Orlando Jones and a 10-minute "Actors Guide to Football" which provides a detailed look at the way the entirely authentic football sequences were planned and filmed. --Chris Campion

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary, The Making Of, Making The Plays, Art Of Football, Scene Access, Trailer, Interactive Menus
Subtitles:	Arabic, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	2000
Release Date:	June 4, 2001
Runtime:	113 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 018585
Keywords:	Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Replacements
Genre:	Comedy