Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 08/11/2000(USA)
Release Date: 11/28/2000
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Flags: Adult Language, Adult Humor, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
The 1987 National Football League players' strike inspired this sports-themed
comedy. The Washington Sentinels are one of the strongest teams in pro football -- until contract negotiations break down and the Sentinels go on strike. Determined to play the team's schedule, owner Edward O'Neil (
Jack Warden) recruits a ragtag band of scab players, to be headed up and whipped into shape by the retired veteran coach
Jimmy McGinty (
Gene Hackman). At the top of the recruitment list is quarterback Shane Falco (
Keanu Reeves), a promising athlete until a catastrophic defeat in the Sugar Bowl dashed his confidence. Joining Falco on the team are Clifford Franklin (
Orlando Jones), a receiver who can't catch the ball; Nigel Gruff (
Rhys Ifans), a chain-smoking Welsh soccer player; Bateman (
Jon Favreau), a former cop with anger management problems; Fumiko (
Ace Yonamine), a sumo wrestler new to football; and Wilkinson (
Michael Jace), a convict on parole to the Sentinels. Can McGinty mold his new squad of misfits and no-hopers (who truly love the game) into a winning team?
Brooke Langton plays Annabelle, head of the Sentinels' cheerleading squad (who has to contend with replacements of her own), and football commentators
John Madden and
Pat Summerall appear as themselves.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
