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The Replacements poster

The Replacements

year 2000decade 00sdirector Howard Deutchgenre Sports comedy
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Keanu Reeves Shane Falco
Gene Hackman Jimmy McGinty
Orlando Jones Clifford Franklin
Jon Favreau Bateman
Brooke Langton Annabelle
Faizon Love Jamal Abdul Jackson
Michael Taliferro Andre Jackson
Rhys Ifans Nigel Gruff
Ace Yonamine Jumbo Fumiko
Troy Winbush Walter Cochran
David Denman Brian Murphy
Michael Jace Earl Wilkinson / Ray Smith
Gailard Sartain Coach Pilachowski
Art LaFleur Coach Banes
Brett Cullen Eddie Martel
Archie L. Harris Jr. Wilson Carr
Evan Parke Malcolm LaMont
John Madden Himself
Pat Summerall Himself
Jack Warden Edward O’Neil
Keith David Lindell

The Replacements | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:21Read transcript
  • Ebert gave two stars, criticizing repetitive and predictable sports-movie storytelling. The hosts agree but note that years of cable exposure changed its appeal.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Final game and ending

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:15Read transcript
  • Jimmy recruiting Shane is a scene choice, with the Sugar Bowl humiliation and the dry answer that the score separates winners from losers.
  • Troy Smith’s Ohio State loss is offered as a real-life Falco comparison; LSU examples are left unnamed.
  • Annabelle’s reckless drive and refusal to date quarterbacks are mocked as arbitrary romantic setup.
  • Jimmy’s two-men speech before the first game is another scene choice, prompting a joke about the hosts beginning work together.
  • The huddle vomiting and Favreau literally retrieving the ball are scene choices that have become enjoyable with time.
  • Falco’s apparent winner leads to praise for Summerall innocently reading the former prisoner’s embroidery interest.
  • The bar fight and Annabelle helping Shane recover his truck are further scene candidates.
  • The quicksand speech is praised despite a comic imitation of Reeves's delivery. Its focus on failure applies to the players' lives beyond football, making the reaction montage effective; Favreau's character seems happier returning to police work.
  • The stripper cheerleaders distracting opponents into a penalty and the opposing coach's reaction are enjoyed.
  • The final twenty-five minutes are favored, including Martel's arrogant first half, Falco's halftime return, and the locker-room confrontation. Martel's get-out line is an immediate overacting candidate.
  • The opening establishes the film's labor politics, while the training montage efficiently introduces each player's talent and limitation.
  • Annabelle applying wild yam is read as showing that Shane’s romance will last beyond his football opportunity.
  • The pain-heals/chicks-dig-scars speech is praised as genuinely motivating.
  • The fake field goal is praised as a smart wrinkle, with Falco recognizing the kicker’s intent to miss; the penalty reversal and final winner make the ending the choice.
  • The final scene is reaffirmed as most rewatchable, with the opening also high on the list.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

No concussion protocol

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:09Read transcript
  • Intentional attacks on opponents and Good Vibrations in a celebration are Most2001 nominees.
  • Stickum is proposed but judged more characteristic of the1970s.
  • Stripper cheerleaders are another candidate, with a later defense promised.
  • The tight end returning immediately after a major hit, without concussion protocol, is the final choice. Old ESPN Jacked Up segments and Madden openings illustrate the era’s treatment of dangerous hits.

Elisabeth Shue Inventing Cold Fusion Award

Annabelle

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:34Read transcript
  • The Elisabeth Shue Oxford electrochemist award goes to Annabelle: a beautiful, financially independent bar owner inexplicably single and cheerleading for little pay. A joking erotic-thriller sequel imagines her stalking Shane, riffing on the missed-date scene and Fatal Attraction.

What’s Aged the Best?

Reeves; cheerleaders; labor perspective; announcers; football credibility

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:34Read transcript
  • Keanu Reeves is an aged-best choice.
  • The sex-worker cheerleaders are praised for comic energy and television-friendly spice, compared with turn-of-the-century media culture.
  • Changed sports-labor discussions are an aged-best theme. The hosts recall the lost promise of the 1994 baseball season, the 1999 NBA lockout, and a canceled hockey season as shifts in their relationship to sports.
  • Keith David as union leader is praised, with speculation that his brief role may have lost scenes in editing.
  • Orlando Jones’s football-as-gun celebration is praised and tentatively linked to The Last Boy Scout.
  • The blue Washington hats are praised as desirable merchandise.
  • Reeves reportedly took less money to enable Hackman's casting, prompting praise for his public reputation and jokes hoping he never disappoints fans; hypothetical misconduct is not a factual allegation.
  • The never-was insult aimed at Falco is praised for cutting deeply.
  • Madden and Summerall now provide nostalgic pleasure and football credibility, compared with Vin Scully in For Love of the Game; what once seemed like a cash-in has aged well.
  • The kicker smoking during games is praised for commitment to the gag.
  • Hoosiers jokes during Hackman’s coaching scenes are enjoyed.
  • The cheerleader paired with the deaf player is an aged-best choice.
  • Shane Footsteps Falco is praised as a nickname, interpreted through fear of sacks and compared with Jim Everett.
  • Reeves's athletic build and throwing motion make him credible at quarterback, with Scott Mitchell and Tua comparisons. A bad throwing clip from an unspecified Amanda Bynes movie is contrasted without identifying its actor.
  • Madden and Summerall's commentary over Shane approaching Annabelle, then blending into game coverage with Every Breath You Take, is praised as inventive. A supposed explicit deleted scene is clearly a joke.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Penalty flag enters frame during Falco’s apparent score

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:37Read transcript
  • Cinematic shot: the penalty flag enters the bottom of frame while Falco appears to score, resembling live game coverage rather than an isolated insert.

The Slow Ride / Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop

I Will Survive

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:19Read transcript
  • The music budget is jokingly estimated at most of the total budget; Blinded by Rainbows is nominated.
  • Two Voodoo Lounge songs appearing in favored films or television prompt a comparison with The Sopranos.
  • I Will Survive in jail is the preferred needle drop.
  • The Heroes ending is another candidate.
  • Lit’s Zip-Lock at the opening receives a shout-out.
  • I Will Survive is reaffirmed for thematic fit. The large volume of songs makes the film strongly identifiable with 1999–2001, and Every Breath You Take is flagged for later discussion.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Old Ebert/Bill reviews; Gary Glitter; Michael Jace; coaches’ suits

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:24Read transcript
  • Ebert’s criticism of Madden and Summerall is rejected as an aged-worst take.
  • The earlier review calling Favreau’s performance career-ending is retracted; his later success and this performance are now appreciated.
  • The Gary Glitter song is an aged-worst choice because of the performer’s history.
  • The hosts discuss Michael Jace’s murder conviction as a disturbing contrast with his character’s fear of returning to prison.
  • A host recalls recognizing Jace while he was serving as an usher at an Oasis church on Wilshire.
  • Thick as Thieves is recommended in a tangent recalling Alec Baldwin, Michael Jai White, Janeane Garofalo, and Andre Braugher; some character details are tentative.
  • The host recalls having spoken with Jace and then learning of his arrest while working at TMZ. The segment’s proposed fun-fact title is rejected as inappropriate to its subject.
  • Coaches wearing suits is added as an aged-worst observation, with Mike Nolan's unsuccessful revival blamed for ending the look.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Adult stadium entertainment; more football movies; Nepo Ball

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:14Read transcript
  • Hot take: NFL stadiums should have adult-only areas with stripper entertainment, arguing that gambling and the sport's physical costs already make it adult-oriented; the proposal excludes putting performers in front of children.
  • Another hot take asks for more football movies, joking about a presidential initiative. A response argues that documentaries and greater knowledge of athletes have weakened older fictional archetypes, with Hustle as a modern example.
  • A proposed Nepo Ball movie follows a wealthy or connected bench player forced into meaningful minutes by injuries, raising nepotism questions. The pitch expands to a team of such players and possibly Bronny James, with Hoosiers' Ollie as an analogy.

Casting What-Ifs

None found

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:25Read transcript
  • No casting what-ifs were found. The deaf tight end's actor is later Roy on The Office, and the opposing coach resembles Andy Reid in the hosts' imagination.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:38Read transcript
  • More Black people: no, the ensemble is considered well represented.
  • Michael Jace is excluded from That Guy consideration.
  • Art LaFleur, the assistant coach compared with a heavier Ed O’Neill, is a candidate.
  • Brett Cullen is favored because he is recognized as Eddie Martel while his name and other roles are hard to recall.
  • Faizon Love is considered too recognizable as himself or Big Worm, though younger viewers may identify him with Elf.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Sugar Bowl dates; Florida State; Reeves’s weight gain and dance double

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:11Read transcript
  • The hosts correct Super Bowl to Sugar Bowl and note that games in late1995 and early1997 left no game in calendar1996.
  • Falco’s Sugar Bowl opponent is identified as Florida State.
  • Reeves reportedly gained twenty-three pounds for the role.
  • Reeves reportedly uses a face-hiding dance double during I Will Survive, prompting uncertainty about whether ability or illness explains it.

Apex Mountain

Underwater trophy football; movies celebrating strikebreakers

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:26Read transcript
  • Reeves, Brooke Langton, Madden and Summerall, and Jack Warden are rejected for Apex; Melrose Place is preferred for Langton.
  • Throwing a trophy football underwater is an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Movies celebrating strikebreakers are an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Twenty-first-century football films lose to Friday Night Lights or Remember the Titans.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:55Read transcript
  • Cruise wins as Shane Falco, though 1980s Hanks could work. The hosts predict greater box office with Cruise but question his throwing ability and height, imagining a small scrambling quarterback.

Picking Nits

Trophy; special teams; backup QB; Annabelle; announcers; strike scope; travel time

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:16Read transcript
  • Nitpick: Falco's trophy remaining underwater is questioned. A defense says he clearly threw it from his boat while abandoning football, though rediscovering and playing with it remains odd.
  • The cheerleaders striking with the players is questioned, with solidarity as the reply.
  • Nigel’s sixty-five-yard field goal is criticized as an unnecessarily large record-breaking distance.
  • Falco’s participation in the onside-kick formation is questioned, with corrections about which unit he joins.
  • Falco leaving instead of remaining backup quarterback is questioned; the team appears to have no second quarterback.
  • His additional holding duties are discussed, with Romo as a comparison.
  • Martel's concern about Annabelle's dating life suggests an omitted prior relationship or missing scenes, which the hosts wish had been included.
  • The hosts infer a prior Martel/Annabelle relationship as a possible reason she avoids quarterbacks, but acknowledge missing exposition rather than established film evidence.
  • Madden and Summerall calling every Washington game is questioned; another announcer such as Gus Johnson could have varied coverage.
  • It is unclear how many teams use replacements, since opponents receive accomplished-player introductions. A SportsCenter-style explanatory scene is proposed.
  • Falco reaching the locker room only minutes after watching halftime at his boat is the major travel-time nitpick. A proposed fix moves Hackman's motivating interview to the first quarter and has Falco follow the game on radio while traveling.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Falco’s collapse; Annabelle’s bar; Every Breath You Take comparison

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:30Read transcript
  • One disastrous college game apparently ruining Falco's entire draft future is questioned. The hosts invent extreme turnover totals and humiliations to test what could explain it; these are hypothetical, not his canonical statistics.
  • Unanswerable questions concern Annabelle's bar economics and lack of staff. A wholly invented backstory makes her the owner's unacknowledged daughter, funded by him and cheerleading to remain close or irritate him.
  • Best use of Every Breath You Take is debated across Stranger Things, Billions, Risky Business, this film, and The Sopranos. The Sopranos season-three premiere wins, with Risky Business the alternative worth hearing.

Just One Oscar

Nobody; Hackman if required

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:55Read transcript
  • One Oscar: no award is the preferred answer, with Hackman offered only if a choice must be made because he takes the material seriously.

Producer review

Dislikes first viewing; mixed tone; pro-sports movies harder; too long

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:49Read transcript
  • Craig dislikes the film on first viewing, finding no inherited nostalgic charm and an unresolved split between broad comedy and serious sports drama. He argues Hackman is miscast and the film should have committed to slapstick; Remember the Titans and The Sandlot provide stronger values and coming-of-age stories.
  • Craig tentatively argues that professional-sports films fare worse because older characters and business concerns displace coming-of-age themes. Major League and Slap Shot are counterexamples, with baseball treated as a possible exception.
  • Eddie is compared with this era's silly sports movies, Celtic Pride is rejected, and the two-hour runtime is judged excessive; the hosts joke that Craig may eventually be worn down by repeat cable viewing.

More from the conversation

The film gradually won Bill over through repeat television viewing despite his mocking 2001 column. A recent airing after basketball drew both hosts back in.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:30Read transcript
The film's heroic strikebreakers and greedy-player framing are interpreted as relics of older sports attitudes. A contemporary version might favor labor, condemn ownership, or have players start a competing league rather than celebrate crossing a picket line.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:30Read transcript
Eddie Martel is compared with Aaron Rodgers as an arrogant, entitled star, while the character's All-Pro and Super Bowl credentials also make him impressive.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:03Read transcript
The story is loosely linked to the 1987 NFL strike and Washington's replacement-player success. Bill recalls barely remembering the earlier 1982 stoppage despite its long interruption of the season.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:03Read transcript
The hosts imagine how a modern strike would disrupt fantasy sports and gambling, including a replacement-player fantasy draft. Existing spring leagues are offered as evidence of replacement-level football, with quarterback play and blocking as weaknesses.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:03Read transcript
Keanu Reeves's post-Matrix career choices are framed as a long loss of top-star status until John Wick. A Draymond Green comparison argues that Reeves excels when placed in the right role rather than asked to do everything.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:06Read transcript
Reeves is praised in well-matched roles such as Speed, The Matrix, John Wick, Point Break, Parenthood, and My Own Private Idaho, while his script choices are questioned. A tentative Gilbert Grape association is uncertain and should not become a film credit.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:47Read transcript
Reeves's unintentional comedy and flat burnout performance help make the film rewatchable. His nonchalance works when his car is overturned, while the absence of a rousing departure speech disappoints; the quicksand speech is praised.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:32Read transcript
Hackman's late career is jokingly treated as funding retirement, with discussion of Heartbreakers, Heist, The Royal Tenenbaums, Behind Enemy Lines, Runaway Jury, and Welcome to Mooseport. His coach is compared with Norman Dale wearing a hat and mustache after several drinks.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:12Read transcript
A Heartbreakers tangent discusses Jennifer Love Hewitt, other early-2000s celebrity beauty contenders, and a speculative reading of Tara Reid appearing at a Ludacris lunch; no private relationship is established.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:28Read transcript
Jack Warden's final film is noted, along with his owner character and memorable monkey-fight insult. Heaven Can Wait and Brian's Song support a proposed sports-movie legacy.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:33Read transcript
The hosts debate whether watching Brian's Song's famous emotional scene substitutes for the full film, with one resisting its sadness; uncertain remake casting is mentioned without resolution.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:46Read transcript
The ensemble is assembled from sports-film archetypes: struggling quarterback, unstable linebacker, and comic receiver. Jon Favreau's linebacker role seems especially surprising after his later directing success, while Orlando Jones's advertising fame and later career are recalled.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:37Read transcript
Favreau's physique and believable unstable-linebacker performance are praised. Speculation about substances used during filming is explicitly conjectural and not a biographical fact.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:15Read transcript
The chain-smoking Welsh kicker is another stock character, enjoyed despite the implausibility of bookmakers traveling internationally to intimidate him; a dark epilogue joke imagines them killing him.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:43Read transcript
Other archetypes include the fast receiver with poor hands, bouncer linemen with kind hearts, the menacing former prisoner, the deaf tight end, and the very large Japanese lineman. The hosts connect them with Major League and Blue Crush types.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:27Read transcript
The film is called a near-remake of Necessary Roughness, missing its female kicker. Proposed missing archetypes include a prejudiced Southerner, a retired white safety played by Scott Bakula, and a womanizer distracted by cheerleaders.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:47Read transcript
An explicitly seven-item, unranked cliché inventory names the bar fight, on-field vomiting, teammate dance in jail, cheerleaders distracting opponents, large lineman catching a pass, quarterback throwing at an opponent's body, and injured veteran's motivational appeal. This is not a Top Ten list.
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:37Read transcript
Further clichés added after the seven-item inventory include locker-room speeches, the hero returning at halftime, and an apparent winning score erased by a penalty. The last device is praised as effective and the film's best shot.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:34Read transcript
A fifty-million-dollar budget and 50.1-million-dollar gross prompt a correction that marketing costs mean the film lost money rather than breaking even.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:11Read transcript
Rich athletes complaining about pay are another dated cliché. Eddie's salary explanation is reconsidered sympathetically, and the hosts argue that broader knowledge of league revenue changed public reactions to player compensation.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:55Read transcript
A discussion explicitly avoiding a Top Five list names effective sports speeches: The Longest Yard's late-game appeal is called best by one host, and Billy Bob Thornton's Friday Night Lights speech is a personal favorite.
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:20Read transcript
Friday Night Lights is linked to a shift toward more self-aware sports movies, with Moneyball and documentary influence also discussed.
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:27Read transcript
Additional effective-speech examples include Any Given Sunday, Jerry Maguire, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, and He Got Game. The hosts note fewer obvious basketball examples and mock the slow-clap convention.
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:03Read transcript
He Got Game's father-son appeal is praised beyond its sports context, and Miracle is added to the speech examples. Real coaching motivation is compared through Doc Rivers and a secondhand account of Pat Riley during the 2006 Finals.
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:59Read transcript
Brooke Langton's Melrose Place connection leads to a tangent about Andrew Shue's brief apparent star potential and blank delivery, compared with Reeves.
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:47Read transcript
Movie-quarterback discussion favors Burt Reynolds in The Longest Yard and Jamie Foxx as Willie Beamen, then Ronnie Sunshine Bass. Foxx's football double is identified in a host anecdote as Sam George from Southern University.
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:19Read transcript
Rifleman in All the Right Moves and Reeves are added; James Van Der Beek is defended as credible after coaching, with Paul Walker also praised and Craig Sheffer considered adequate. A firsthand anecdote about producer Sarah Flam (transcript spelling) throwing well after Varsity Blues training supports the argument.
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:22Read transcript
Michael B. Jordan's Friday Night Lights television work is praised, prompting surprise that Craig has not seen the show and Van has only seen isolated episodes.
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:10Read transcript
The hosts defend liking an imperfect film for humor, performers, memories, and television replay value, distinguishing personal enjoyment from quality.
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:35Read transcript