Any Given Sunday
A behind the scenes look at the dips in a football franchise.
Oliver Stone loves to delve into the controversial stories and expose the truth as he’s always tackled complex and racy subjects. This time around he hones in on the roots of modern day professional football as he examines the behind the scenes of what goes on day in and day out in the locker room and off the field for a team.
Any Given Sunday studies the day and night activities of football playing warriors in the midst of a season. There are struggles throughout when quarterback Cap Rooney (Dennis Quaid) is injured, thus bringing up a young third stringer, Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx), who tries to seize the opportunity for stardom. Clashes of all kinds ensue when owner Christina Pagniacci butts heads with Coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino).
A strong cast is compiled to deliver forceful performances transferring a lot of energy and negative connotation to the oppressor. Al Pacino is given the green light here as a football coach to scream his head off in a heat of anger. Jamie Foxx is allowed to showboat as he gains praise and recognition for saving the franchise with his Michael Vick-like on field moves.
Since it’s Oliver Stone, of course it’s nitty-gritty as he shows us the bare bones of a football franchise on the ins and outs of turmoil. It addresses most any scenario imaginable that happens in the football world to a team: injuries, contracts, feuds among players, etc. It’s quite intense as these football players are depicted as soldiers and warriors and the football field is a battle. Each week they step onto the field, it’s another battle to be won.
This is something we all thought but never really spoke about out loud. It’s a game of inches as Pacino claims and you have to fight for every inch harder than the other guy to get that inch in order to win. The tension and high strung drama we all experience as sports fans is very much intact as it’s extrapolated into a cinematic reel.
Written by: John Berkowitz
Reviewers Rating: 7
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Added: 22-Jul-2008
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