Celtic Pride (1996)

Director:

Tom DeCerchio

Writers (WGA):

Judd Apatow (story) and
Colin Quinn (story) ...

Release Date:

19 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

If you can't beat 'em... steal him!

Plot:

Two over-loyal Celtic fans kidnap their opponent's star player in order to guarantee their team the championship.

Plot Keywords:

Boston Massachusetts | Irish American | Basketball | Kidnapping | Boston Celtics

Cast

Damon Wayans	...	Lewis Scott
Daniel Stern	...	Mike O'Hara
Dan Aykroyd	...	Jimmy Flaherty
Gail O'Grady	...	Carol O'Hara
Christopher McDonald	...	Coach Kimball
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Kevin O'Grady
Adam Hendershott	...	Tommy O'Hara
Scott Lawrence	...	Ted Hennison
Deion Sanders	...	Himself
Bill Walton	...	Himself
Gus Williams	...	Derrick Lake
Ted Rooney	...	Tony Sheppard
Vladimir Cuk	...	Lurch
Keith Gibbs	...	Terry Kirby
Joe Mingle	...	Referee

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34453)

Filming Locations:

Boston Garden - 150 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: After badly spraining his right ankle in the one-on-one game with Lewis, Mike goes to see his wife and can barely walk up the stairs. In a subsequent shot while they are all at the dinner table, a long shot shows Mike vividly bouncing his right leg on the ball of his foot showing no signs of the injury, impossible to do without immense pain.

Quotes:

Mike O'Hara: Where are our drinks?!

Movie Connections:

Version of Fußball ist unser Leben (2000)

Amusing and a nice idea – somewhere inside Celtic Pride is a better film trying to get out

It's game 6 of the NBA playoffs with the Celtics 3-2 up against the Utah Jazz and seemingly about to win the title on their home court in Boston. Lifelong fans Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty may have personal problems but these are put in perspective opposite the dream of catching the title. However Utah's best player, Lewis Scott, is carrying the team and responsible for most of their points. When he destroys the Celtics in game 6, things look bleak. Bumping into him in a bar later that night, Mike and Jimmy plan to get him so drunk he'll still he weak in several days time when game 7 is played. However when they wake up beside him the next morning they kidnap him and plan to hold him until after game 7 has passed. However things are harder than they imagined.

Being a basketball fan I'll give anything that involves the game a try, whether it is more serious films like Blue Chips and He Got Game or comedies like this or Eddie. This film had potential and, opening with a funny sequence where Mike fails to pass on his passion to his students, it looked like it was going to be good. The plot is filled out by poking fun at the excessive sports fans and also taking a more serious look from the point of view of the players themselves (as represented by Scott). However, where things fall down a little is in the delivery.

Marketed as a `wacky' comedy of sorts, the film wants to be that (hence the presence of Aykroyd and Stern) but this means that the more interesting side of the film is ignored and allowed to fall into disrepair (before finally collapsing in the final `7 months later' shot). As a comedy it is entertaining without ever being very funny – I didn't laugh out loud very often but I found it passable and light hearted. It never really gets any better than that sadly, but I felt that this lack of consistent laughs could have been covered if the darker side of the fan/player relationship had been brought out more.

Unfortunately this side slides for the whole of the film until nothing of interest is really left. There are imaginative touches that suggest a better film, but overall the lack of an effective dramatic streak to the film (no matter how secondary it would have been) is a problem. Without it the plot seems trivial and makes it harder to hold the audience's interest. This isn't helped by the fact that the film feels quite cheap and quickly put together. This is shown throughout the film but is clearest in it's portrayal of the basketball action. I wasn't expecting them to have the feel of a big stadium or have total realism, but the games are such a joke (in terms the play) that it made me realise how little effort was put into some aspects of the film.

The cast is OK but the names suggest that a more `zany' comedy was expected to be the outcome of this film. Aykroyd plays a lesser role but has some good dream sequences, Stern is left to lead the film and he appears to lack the confidence to do it well. Wayans is the real star here which is a worrying thing. His character is the strongest and also has the most to say as he is not just a comedy figure in the way the other two are. He leads well and is actually OK but his basketball scenes are poor. For He Got Game, Ray Allen coached Washington so he'd look the part, it appears no-one saw the need for that approach here.

Overall this is a wacky comedy with few laughs. Because it seems to favour the `zany' knockabout side of it's nature, it neglects the darker more interesting side and suffers as a result. This film never made it to the cinema in the UK and barely made an impact on video – there are reasons for this.