Celtic Pride (1996)

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

Director:

Tom DeCerchio

Writers:

Judd Apatow (story), Colin Quinn (story)

Stars:

Damon Wayans, Daniel Stern, Dan Aykroyd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Gerard G. Williams	...	Derrick Lake (as Gus Williams)
Ted Rooney	...	Tony Sheppard
Vladimir Cuk	...	Lurch
Keith Gibbs	...	Terry Kirby
Joe Mingle	...	Referee

Storyline

The National Basketball Association play-offs are taking place, and the Boston Celtics are facing the Utah Jazz in a crucial series. This is also the last year that any games will be played in the Boston Garden, which is going to be torn down after the end of the season. Mike and Jimmy, two die-hard sports fans who will risk anything for the Celtics to win, are really getting into the games. The Celtics would be a sure win if it weren't for Lewis Scott, the cocky, loud-mouth star of the Jazz. After Scott himself punishes the Celtics in a bad loss, Mike and Jimmy decide to take things into their own hands by kidnapping Scott and holding him until after the crucial game takes place.

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Plot Keywords:

sports fan | kidnapping | basketball | boston celtics | friend | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and an abundance of crude humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Csont nélkül

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,809,248, 21 April 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$9,255,027

Company Credits

Production Co:

Caravan Pictures, Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two films released in 1996 that starred Damon Wayans as a star athlete and essential to the film's plot. The other was The Great White Hype in which he co-starred with Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson and Jaime Foxx, playing the boxing Heavyweight Champion of the World James "The Grim Reaper" Roper who fights a former Golden Gloves Champion "Irish" Terry Conklin played by future Director Peter Berg.

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Goofs

During the first half of final game, a floor shot of the action shows the score being Vistor 90, Celtics 91 from a scoreboard located in the corner. A few scenes later and it's halftime, and the scene shows the main scoreboard above the floor showing Vistor 38, Celtics 52.

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Quotes

Mike O'Hara: [after hearing Marv Albert mention talking about him and Jimmy on the radio] ...Jimmy! Marv Albert's talking about us on the radio... Ohhh I could die now!

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, the Boston Garden is demolished. (This is a special effect; at the time the movie was released, the real Garden was still standing.)

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Celtic Price/Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie/Mrs. Winterbourne/The Substitute/Fear/Sweet Nothing (1996)

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Soundtracks

Panacea
Written by Marc Antoine and DJ Greyboy (as Andreas Stevens)
Performed by DJ Greyboy (as Greyboy)
Courtesy of Ubiquity Recordings, Inc.

User Reviews

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.