Any Given Sunday

I am surprised by the poor ratings from both professional critics and viewers, and agree with one of the positive critics that this by far the best football movie ever. It is not the typical rah rah sports movie by any means. Rather, it captures the entire NFL experience and culture perfectly - including all the good, the bad, and the ugly - which is why the NFL was very unhappy with it. The cast is star-studded, including some high profile ex-players (Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor), and the performances are all fabulous. The strained relationships between Al Pacino (head coach) Cameron Diaz (team owner), and Jamie Fox (new upstart quarterback) are masterfully developed. Similar to Oliver Stone’s “JFK” this movie presents the viewer with a firehose of characters and scenes, but all are cohesive and coherent, and the surprise ending, revealed during the movie credits, ties it all up perfectly. Highly recommended!!

Average football movie with some great moments.Sometimes alittle too much flair...but pays tribute to players past.

Its not just a film about football but of life itself

My favorite football movie. The playing sequences are as real as you can get without being on the field. The blurring and stuttering reminded me of what it was like trying to follow the motion, do a job, and smash into someone at great speed. Why did I think that was fun? The storyline is passable, the actors enjoyable, but for my money the winner is the camera work.

This movie screams Oliver Stone and not in a very good way

There's an human eye on the field

To me this movie is the very definition of football. Catches exceptionally well the competitiveness, the camaraderie and the corruption of the game through excellent plot & performances - who can forget Al Pacino's motivational speech as a coach before their most critical game? Some decent football action too.

This is in my top 3 all-time favorite football movies! Perhaps the "critics" were horrible in sports or were ridiculed by jocks in high school? This is a fantastic movie and I highly recommend it.

A movie about professional football that doesn't know about professional football and got numerous things wrong that are very noticable

Oliver Stone turns his attention to American Football with a long and frenetic film. The Miami Sharks are in turmoil and struggling to make the playoffs. Their veteran coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), who has fallen out of favor with young owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz)and offensive coordinator Nick Crozier (Aaron Eckhart)is expected to succeed D'Amato as head coach. During the season the Sharks quarterback, Cap Rooney (Dennis Quaid) and his replacement are both injured. They have to call up the rookie quarterback Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx). Beamen is visibly nervous which includes throwing up during the game and makes a number of errors as he lacks knowledge regarding the team's play-book. Beamen however gains in confidence and quickly his star is in the ascendancy but the can the wily D'Amato turn the team around and outfox Pagniacci? Stone tells us the stories of people from different levels as they struggle to survive within in the world of professional sport. Cap is aging and maybe past his best but his wife wants him to continue despite the pain of injuries to keep up with the lifestyle. Beamen on the hand is getting endorsements, money and women but loses his long time girlfriend along the way. Many of the others are willing to risk long term health as their ruthless medic (James Woods) is willing to give shots and misinterpret findings so the players keep on playing. Stone like D'Amato now a veteran filmmaker maybe past his prime when he made this film is typically audacious and frenetic. As always he keeps the camera moving, when one player gets tackled his eye pops out. He gets Pacino to let rip in several scenes but gets more nuances performances from Foxx and Quaid. A critical eye on NHL franchises, money and sport but this is a minor film in Stone's resume.