I may be biased on this as I am a huge Buffalo Bills fan. However, the "gem" of this movie is not where most people would think.The gem in this movie is how Dan Heller won over his teammates with his leadership. If I were teaching how to manage people, this film would be required viewing by every single student in the class. At first, he thinks his chance is totally zero, but then one fluke incident - and he's basically the CEO of the on-field team.Instead of just going in and saying "I'm Dan Heller - I'm the guy and do what I say" - he takes the time to learn about his "second string" and why they are on the second string. You come to find out that just about every one of them would be stars on any other team, but for one reason or another - they ended up on the second string. His butt is pulled out of the fire by his wife who believes in him more than he does and his long time friend Jerry who gives him a huge lecture after they barely win the first playoff game.What struck me was after that talk with Jerry, he takes the time to really dig in and learn about his teammates - and he goes the extra mile to make them a lot better. He works out in a graveyard with the running back helping him to learn cutback moves. When he finds out his left tackle can't tackle the play book, he learns what is required of that position on every play and then tells the guy what to do on every play - just like he had it in high school and college. They work overtime ( night practices ) with new plays he draws up just for them that he knew would work with their talents. He reaches out to every player, even "Ernie Weathers" - the grizzly veteran with a chip on his shoulder so large, it takes the last play of the Super Bowl to remove it. Ernie doesn't get it until Dan tells him - "What if we do win and you had nothing to do with it? - how would you feel knowing you didn't do a thing to earn it". That finally gets Ernie thinking and he makes the winning move on the last play of the game to win it. He even wins over the coach who admits to him that he was never given a chance because the coach didn't want him because he didn't fit "his system".Even when he's pulled for someone who is supposedly better for the Super Bowl, its quite obvious to all of the players who made them better - and why. When things start to go wrong in the big game and even then he tries to explain it to the new guy, the new guy doesn't want to listen worth a crap. Thus, his teammates mutiny, knock the "3 time SB champ" out with a head butt, and they put Dan back in.And that my friends is the ultimate gem that many managers need to learn - you adjust for the players you have, not what you want your players to do. This is true for any workplace - and not just sports. I personally have been in great work situations and horrid ones, and the great ones follow what Dan does to the letter and the horrid ones follow the lead of "Tommy". I personally worked for a guy in one situation who had a cast of people who on paper weren't up to the challenge - but every day he told them they were - and although I can't give more details - I will tell you that 20,000+ jobs were saved because of his effort.You know when you're working for Dan, you know when you're working for Tommy, hopefully there are enough Dan's where you are who keep the Tommy's at bay or even keep them out of the company.So to the writer of this movie, you have a gem - if you want to make a lot more money for this film, license it to a "Dan" who can use it to make better managers.

We just got "Second String" on video today, and I always the sucker for underdog movies, and after reading the synopsis on the box, decided to check it out. I was rather impressed by this small release (we only got two copies in). Now, I too, got the whole "Replacements-wannabe" vibe that several of the other reviewers may have had. However, I really got into this one a lot more. I thought it had a much better, and more importantly, believable story to it than the "Replacements" did. I thought Voight did a much better job than Hackman ever did as the old coach. Bellows was great as the QB, and since his 5-year stint on TV, its great to see he's making a comeback. I particularly liked when Bellows helped out his teammates with their physical and mental aspects of their game. While other movies have done this several times over, "Second String" doesn't have that corny feeling that is left over for the viewer to digest. Instead, it adds a little humor into it. I chuckled a few times as the players were counting up how much their running-back would pay up for the Superbowl party everytime he dropped the football. If you manage to find this treasure somewhere in the back of our store and are trying to avoid some of the more recent blockbusters that have been released, try giving it a chance. I'm sure you'll be quite impressed.

** mild spoilers within **Your level of enjoyment in watching this film will depend to a large degree on how you watch it. The casual football fan who has not seen too many underdog sports films will probably find it enjoyable. As someone who has seen many of the countless similarly-themed films, I thought it was OK, but nothing new (and nothing that had not been done better elsewhere).Someone who follows the Bills and knows their history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory may be amused by the way the plot line overlaps with some of the more angst-ridden moments in Bills history (everything but O.J.). Scott Norwood and the Music City Miracle both come in to play.One ironic component of the film is that the Bills (and Doug Flutie) qualify to play the Chargers in the playoffs. In the off-season after the movie was shot, Flutie left the Bills for the Chargers, and a lot of bad blood flowed between the teams as the result of some back-office dealings.The script contained holes that were obvious to someone with a more than casual interest in the game. There were some subtle and not-so-subtle flaws in the way the games played out--some decisions just would not have been made as they were in the film. There was also a shocking lack of media hype surrounding the NFL post-season (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it takes away from the realism). Any athlete in Heller's shoes would be surrounded by reporters at every turn (which would have provided an opportunity to explore his ambivalence and growth through the film).My main problem with the film is that the story line reflects a less than thorough understanding of the game. The subtle flaws and relentless plays on Bills historical references pulled me out of the mood and flow of the story. There was very little original content, and since the plot was pretty predictable, the way the story moves from point A to point B should be cleaner.Overall, the film was watchable, but nothing special. I saw it in the middle of a sports film marathon on cable, though, and I found most of the other movies more compelling.

One of the better "underdog" sports movies. Voigt is strong and believable. Bellows is good but as others noted, T Polo's character is shallow and forgettable, like her contrived performance (her lines are strained) G Eads is better here than on CSI and he gets big points for making the viewers dislike him. Even though its predictable, this is much better than "The Replacements" and other films with this premise. Worth watching? you bet.