The plot is simple. When his professional football players go on strike, the Washington Sentinels’ owner hires Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) to assemble and train a replacement team for the four remaining games before the play-offs. Three out of four wins means a spot. Jimmy decides to take the non-conventional approach to recruitment. He digs up a band of misfits who "aren’t even has-beens" on the football scene, but who have all at one point shown great promise partly because of great skill, but more importantly because they play with their heart. Quarterback Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) becomes a team leader to a white deaf man (David Denman), two Black gang lords (Faizon Love, Michael "Bear" Taliferro), a spindly Welsh kicker (Rhys Ifans), a fanatical, redneck swat-team leader (Jon Favreau), a Japanese-American sumo-wrestler (Jumbo Fumiko), a preacher (Troy Winbush) who blew out his knee before ever scoring a point, a Black prisoner (Michael Jace) temporarily released from hard time to play, and quick as the wind Black liquor store guard who can’t catch. On the sidelines is Annabel (Brooke Langton), the head cheerleader who, for the lack of better candidates, hires strippers for the temporary cheerleading team. Although the strippers are naughty and suggestive in some of their bump and grind work as cheerleaders, there is no nudity or sex in the film and very little bad language. This is a movie that anyone who is sensitive to language and who takes their kids to pro-sports games can feel comfortable viewing.

The laughs begin as soon as the replacements are introduced, and their character traits start grating. Whether gross, obscene, prejudiced, or criminal, they are all lovable in a way. As they clash, the ironies multiply. Two huge black gang lords, replete with chains and 9 mm’s, are prejudiced against the equally huge sumo wrestler calling him Chinese rather than Japanese. In another scene, Clifford (Oliver Jones) shoots his mouth off at the militant Black prisoner and the crazy jingoistic cop sitting across from each other. Racial and cultural sparks contribute a refreshing humorous perspective to the tapestry of concerns. Little can be more delightful than a comedy like The Replacements that truly allows us to laugh at our silly differences.

The ultimate challenge of the replacements is not just to overcome their quibbles in order to become a team, but to face their fear of failure and full-heartedly claim their chance for greatness. In this challenge, they are all equal, and in wanting to be the best of who they are, even if only for four weeks, even if no one remembers it, their differences become the building blocks of compassion, respect, and care, and their team spirit soars far beyond the confines of a football field. So, when Jimmy McGinty suggests that the heart makes a great game and a great player, his words resonate to all of us in the game of life.

The cast led by Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman is far better than we expected. We were especially surprised by Keanu Reeves who gives just as much as is needed to each scene and even manages to engage us in the soft romantic sub-plot. He is especially credited by his fellow cast and crew members for his constant dedication to and persistence in every aspect of his role.

As difficult as it is to maintain a coherent story with so many characters, this movie also remains faithful to the spirit of football. Great attention was paid to making the game real including filming plays during half-time of a real NFL game with 65,000 actual spectators, and sending the entire cast through football camp. The blend of roaring comedy and daring football action makes for a truly sizzling entertainment experience that we whole-heartedly recommend to everyone.