Celtic Pride (1996)

Review by All Movie Guide
Celtic Pride seems conceived as an homage to the outgoing Boston Garden, the site of 16 Boston Celtics world championships which was torn down two years after this film. It appears Dan Aykroyd and Daniel Stern's characters were meant as beloved tributes to an intensely passionate fan base, one that might go so far as to kidnap the star player of the opposing team -- kind of by accident, of course. That's a funny idea, and the movie actually plays out according to plan, more or less, during the first half. But Celtic Pride has huge problems in the third act -- or perhaps, the fourth quarter. Because it has an essentially good heart, resisting the urge to go the black comedy route, both the kidnappers and their quarry must learn something from the experience of being holed up in Aykroyd's memorabilia-festooned bachelor pad. But in that third act, those lessons get applied in a way that's morally confused at best, downright self-interested at worst. Plus, the film goes from amiably goofy to just plain silly, at about the point Lewis Scott (Damon Wayans) escapes the aforementioned bachelor pad prison but can't seem to outrun or outwit the two wheezing fortysomethings chasing him. In one of his earliest screenwriting efforts, Judd Apatow finds his best stride exploring the dynamics between the three men when they aren't actively threatening each other. Here, they engage in semi-interesting dialogues about why athletes hawk products and what it means to have passion for the game. But these moments are fleeting, with continuity errors and just plain carelessness (a 7-foot Croatian substituting for Scott's diminutive point guard?) using up a much larger portion of the shot clock. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide