The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon

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The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon

Directed by	Tim Kelleher
Produced by	Kevin Inch
Written by	Tim Kelleher Greg Fields
Starring	Tony Danza Jessica Tuck Art LaFleur Jaime Cardriche Gil Filar
Distributed by	Disney
Release date(s)	1998
Running time	78 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon (also known as The Philadelphia Phenomenon) is a 1998 television movie starring Tony Danza from Walt Disney Pictures.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 External links

[edit] Plot

All Barney Gorman (Tony Danza) wants to do is impress his family, but having a job as a garbageman makes that hard for him. All the Philadelphia Eagles' coach wants to do is impress the football fans in Philadelphia, but having a team that sucks makes that hard for him. But one day, when Barney and his friend are picking up garbage, Barney takes out his frustration and kicks on of the garbage cans. The can goes so far, that the Eagles' coach sees and asks Barney to be their new kicker.

Barney joins the Eagles, but at first isn't really accepted by his teammates, especially his roomate, Bubba. But once Barney starts playing, and makes a lot of game winning field goals, his teammates and football fans all over town begin to love him. They even dub him a nickname, "G-Man". And there's a big montage in the middle and some wacky hijinks that are part of the madcap hilarity. There's even a big fat guy in the movie so there's lots of fat guy jokes which makes up for Danza's acting skills!

Unfortunately, the fame and popularity goes to his head and he becomes spoiled and selfish. He begins to think that his teammates are his lackies, and that they should all worship the ground he walks on. After all this, Barney misses a game-winning field goal attempt, and a chance to make it to the playoffs.

Barney goes to a bar, all depressed and lonely, when an attractive blonde woman approaches him. She asks him if he is Barney Gorman and if she could take a picture with him. She takes him to the photographer, but is caught off guard when the woman kisses him. She says thanks while giving him an alluring smile as she walks away.

About two days later, Barney is still depressed over the loss, and gets kicked off the team. He then blows his wife (Jessica Tuck) on a date, and she sees the picture of him kissing the blonde woman in the newspaper. When Barney tries to go home later, he sees that his suitcase is packed with the newspaper photo of him kissing the blonde woman outside the front door.

After a while, Barney comes to his senses and goes home to apoligize to his wife, son, and father. The Eagles let him back on the team, just in time for the final game of the season. At the end of the game, the ball placeholder fumbles the ball, and Barney grabs it and scores the game winning touchdown.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Tony Danza	Barney Gorman
Jessica Tuck	Marie Gorman
Art LaFleur	Gus Rogenheimer
Jaime Cardriche	Bubba
Gil Filar	Danny Gorman

The cast also included many well known figures in the world of professional football playing minor roles or making cameo appearances. Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles played Barney's friend who was seen at the cafe and had the line " This new Eagles owner must be a good guy." The kicking stand-in for Tony Danza was Mike Vanderjagt, a Canadian football player and professional placekicker. The movie also featured sportscaster Chris Berman and NFL footage with Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys.

[edit] Production

Most of the movie was actually filmed in Toronto, Ontario. Other filming locations for the movie included Hollywood, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.