It's Keanu Reeves the quarterback in this new sports comedy from director Howard Deutch, the man who helmed such epics as The Great Outdoors, Dutch, and the beloved 80's treasure Pretty in Pink. Truth be told, of his entire resume, the only film he made that I really liked was Some Kind of Wonderful. The Replacements is decent entertainment and would find itself near the top of my Deutch bag.

In this gridiron goof fest, a group of misfit football players are recruited to fill in for an NFL team whose players are on strike. Coaching the team is the always dependable Gene Hackman who is treading on Hoosier waters as the man who must get the players to work together. The Replacements is certainly nothing new. Think Wildcats, The Bad News Bears, and most obviously, Major League. Reeves is actually quite subtle and holds back from the eccentricities usually associated with him. He also develops a nice rapport with love interest Brooke Langton, even though their relationship is underdeveloped. Both are very appealing.

For the most part, The Replacements is everything you'd expect, from the goofy recruits to the climactic game at the end of the film. One of the more interesting aspects of the film is the statement it makes about the kind of salaries many athletes ask for. Is this a game they love or are they strictly in it for the money?

In the end, The Replacements is full of many funny moments (there's a great moment in which one of Reeves' teammates takes his aggression out on one of the on-strike player's vehicle), jokes that fall flat (the singing of "I Will Survive" didn't work in Coyote Ugly and it doesn't work here either), and gags that are beaten into the ground (the first time a cheerleading squad full of strippers tries to distract the opposing team, it's a hoot but then they keeping doing it until it's not funny anymore).

The Replacements is mild entertainment. It certainly isn't Any Given Sunday but then it is a comedy and, for what it's worth, I actually liked it better than the overblown Oliver Stone flick.