Can anyone quarterback a good movie?

In the last two Super Bowls, we've been treated to four virtuoso performances by quarterbacks as the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger outdueled the Cardinals' Kurt Warner in 2009 and last night, the Saints' Drew Brees prevailed over the Colts' Peyton Manning. For years, the adage in the NFL has been that to win, you need a franchise quarterback. The same should be said for football movies.

Let's take a look back as some recent gridiron films and their signal-callers and see who passed muster.

The Replacements (2000)
QB: Keanu Reeves (Shane Falco)

The notion that these scab players were filling in for striking professionals was not lost on Reeves, whose on-field performance is rivaled only by his Southern accent in "The Devil's Advocate." And while the southpaw did have more zip on the ball than I thought he would, he's no Steve Young.

Small ball: Head coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) talk strategy with QB Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) in "Any Given Sunday." (Getty Images)

Any Given Sunday (1999)
QBs: Dennis Quaid ('Cap' Rooney) and Jamie Foxx (Willie Beaman)

The brand of football captured in this Oliver Stone movie looked more like the awful Vince McMahon-hatched XFL that was to come in 2001 than modern-day professional football. But through the lens of America's favorite rabble-rousing director we see an admirable performance by Quaid as a quarterback in the sunset of his career, taking what looks to be truly ferocious hits. As for his apprentice, Foxx -- who ticks in at 5 feet, 9 inches -- runs around well, but imagining a Lilliputian running any NFL offense other than the Wildcat is a bit much.

Varsity Blues (1999)
QBs: James Van Der Beek (Jonathon Moxon) and Paul Walker (Lance Harbor)

Sure the football scenes are laughable -- backed by such jock jams as The Foo Fighters' "There Goes My Hero" -- and the hijinks and family dynamics portrayed are as cliched as Hollywood can manufacture. One positive is Walker, who, with his limited screen time on the field, proved to be a believable high school quarterback. (At least as much as the film could allow you to believe.) But when he's felled by an injury, enter Van Der Beek whose sloppy drawl, wobbly throws and Dawson doe-eyes are nearly impossible to handle. Unless it's "The Heath Shuler Story."

The Longest Yard (2005)
QB: Adam Sandler (Paul Crewe)

Sandler changes the the tenor of the movie from the 1974 original which was more dramatic and socially aware to the usual Sandler fare, full of camp and more concerned about squeezing in sigh-inducing cameos. As a result, Sandler plays more ringmaster than athlete, but he comes bulked up like a good inmate would.

What're your thoughts on actors as quarterbacks? And why hasn't there been a classic football film yet on the level of a "Raging Bull" or "Rocky" for boxing or "The Natural" or "Bull Durham" for baseball?

Christian Pelusi is a senior producer in Style and laughs every time he sees "The Bachelor" throw a football.