Rating: 
Summary: Great Football Action - Not Much More
Review: The football game sequences are great. The language and subject matter for most of the rest of the movie is reprehensible. If the dialogue is not relating to sex, it's a weak cliche. This was a predicitable film. Only Stone's awesome work in creating suspense during the action sequences saved it from getting one star. And, by the way, you DEFINITELY don't want your kids watching this. The NFL refused to allow Stone to use real team names and logos due to the offensive nature of this film. I can see why!
Rating:
Summary: Every cliche in the playbook -- plus a lousy sound mix...
Review: I generally like Oliver Stone's films, but this was an exception. A loud, dumb, blunderbuss of a movie, it has some decent performances, but a by-the-numbers script. Why does the climax of every sports movie have to come down to the last few seconds/last out/last hole/last whatever? It's the nature of the beast, but it sure does make for predictability. And the tie-it-all-up ending could have come from a 30s Warner Brothers sports biography.Something that was even more annoying than the seen-it-before plot was the sound mix. Stone seemed to be so enamored of his soundtrack music and ambient noise that he let it ride right over much of the dialogue. I finally turned on the English subtitles, and learned that I hadn't been missing much. Rabid football fans might enjoy this melodramatic look behind the scenes, but others should give it a pass.
Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: This movie was awful. My question is why? Why did Oliver Stone make this film? It was not good, not interesting, and not appealing.I did NOT enjoy the cinematography. It was out of place, obnoxious, and completely irritating. I remember one scene with Lauren Holly and Denis Quaid that started off promising, but then shot to a smaller screen so that some crap could be shown, too. It hacked me off. The two stars are for the decent preformances. Pretty much the whole cast was good. Although James Woods and Cameron Diaz were not at their best. They still did the job. However, they did not help the movie come out positive.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasted Talent in Overblown Garbage...
Review: Olive Stone hasn't done anything worthwhile since JFK, so it's no surprise that his latest "expose" is on professional sports and it just stumbles arround for nearly three hors with predictable results. Stone's goal here, is to show the audience life in the world of pro football, since he already tackled wall street, the media, war and governmental conspiracy (all far more successfully than here), it seems only natural that Stone turn his cameras to the playing field.The NFL declined involvment in the making of this film and ten minutes into it, it's not hard to understand why. When the team's quarterback (Dennis Quaid-underused in this film) goes down he is screamed at and treated like a fool by the medics-any pro football fan knows that this, right off the bat, is Stone taking liberties in this "real" football story. From here on in, this garbage crumbles into on HUGE cliched mess. Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and James Woods come off the best here, however, these great actors can't even salvage Any Given Sunday as it turns into an R rated movie of the week with everything AND the kitchen sink tossed in for good measure. Between the grinding rap music, the self indulgent and laughably inane symbolism (the chariot racing intercut between Pacino and Jamie Foxx during an arguemnt is absurd) we get subplot after subplot. We get Cameron Diaz's estranged releationship with her mother, Dennis Quaid's abusive wife hits him and tells him HE WILL NOT QUIT FOOTBALL!!! James Woods is a snake of a medic using a very unorthodox method of medicine on the players and so on and so on.Stone would like to think all this interesting for the viewer, but beyond hardcore football fans and teenagers, this movie is junk plain and simple. Any Given Sunday doesn't surprise the viewer once in its proceedings, the ending is crystal clear and hour before it happens, Stone even cops out here and throws a happy ending on the preceeding dismal 2 hours and 40 minutes. Aside from James Woods and a few funny qutotes from his mouth, and one great shouting match between Diaz and Pacino, there is nothing to enjoy here. An excellent cast is wasted in probably one of the biggest turkeys of the 90's, a forgettable, bombastic piece of celluoid. Stick to North Dallas Forty and Sunday Football!
Rating: 
Summary: The truth behind the game
Review: TV football games put me to sleep, yet I found this movie absolutely riveting. Simple plot: The Miami Sharks are in trouble, and everyone involved with the team must take some huge risks in order to make it this season. Complex issues: Behind the thin veneer of fan hype and sports hero lifestyle, is a head-spinning web of moral ambiguities, deceit, and personal ambition. So who better than Oliver Stone to take us behind the scenes and craft a Greek drama out of the tension between the players, the managers, and the business owners. In classic Stone style, the plight of black players, used for their athletic talent but left dangling financially and often discarded, is at last presented with vigorous eloquence -- though I felt it was a little too hastily jammed into the plot, and deserved more airtime. Brilliantly photographed, solidly acted, AGS teaches and informs about the game within the game. Look for career-expanding dramatic performances by Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. And for you sports lovers ... the football action sequences have a palpable physical impact that reaches out and crunches you in your armchair. Any Given Sunday is classic American film-making. We're talking Oscars here.
Rating:
Summary: Fumble!
Review: Anyone who thinks of watching "Any Given Sunday" should think again. Perhaps I am just getting old and carry the burden of remembering too many films... the bulk of this film is rehash... countless football movies have done it better and this Oliver Stone film steals from them all. Just take "North Dallas Forty" and destroy any attempt at forming a serious piece by punctuating each sceen with hip-hop and rap overlays... I am sorry but I have seen several movies attempt to look fresh or sound hip by adding rap to the score and for my money it just does not work. The characters in the story are one-dimensional offspring of 1000 other roles... Al Pacino is taking his overacting to new heights and gave far better "Win one for the Gipper" speaches in "Scent of a Woman". Hollywood loves football but it seems that the scripts are wearing thin... There has to be someone in a film the viewer to pull for and in the case of this film that is not an easy task... Oliver Stone finally jumped on something too late... just read the papers, sports is about money... thank's for the tip. Oliver Stone could have made a better film by delving into the world of sports media discussing the way shows like SportsCenter not only report on, but alter sport...
Rating:
Summary: In a word: horrible
Review: How many more football cliches could Oliver Stone have cashed in on? - the player risks his long-term health to play in the big game - the owner who wants a new stadium deal - the owner who threatens to move the team - over the hill coach who wonders if he can still cut it - aging star being pushed by the rookie - flashy player who can't be reigned in by the coach - trainer with questionable morals - out of control team has orgy at party and so on and so on Do yourself a favor, pass on this movie. It's part Gladiator, part Yo MTV raps, but as a whole - SUCKS!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Football Movie
Review: Undoubtedly, many will make comparisons between this motion picture and "North Dallas Forty". For the most part, those comparisons will be invalid. The question of which of the two movies is the greatest football team of all time would be like comparing the Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960's to the San Francisco 49'ers teams of the 80's. Both pictures are great, but they provide the viewer with a snapshot of pro-football in different eras. "Any Given Sunday", at almost three hours running time, is easily Oliver Stone's best picture since "Born on the 4th of July". It stars Al Pacino as a beleagered football coach of a losing franchise and Cameron Diaz as the MBA owner who has inherited the team from her late father. They both turn in fine performances, but it is the performance of comedian Jamie Foxx as an egotistical young quarterback that makes this all work. Dennis Quaid is quite effective as an aging quarterback whose injury paves the way for Foxx's character to show his stuff. Jim Brown is excellent as of the team's assistant coaches and Pacino's old friend. In addition, there are a number of fine performances from L. L. Cool J., Lawrence Taylor, James Woods, Matthew Modine, Clifton Davis, Ann-Margaret, and even Oliver Stone himself. Look for former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboy coach Barry Switzer in a cameo role as well as one of my favorite character actors, John C. McGinley, as a full-of-himself football analyst. Charlton (NRA) Heston also briefly appears as the league commissioner. The action in this movie is good, and juxtaposed against the rap music background really makes it seem almost frenetic at times, even the slo-mo shots. Anyone thinking of viewing this picture would do well to ignore the scathing remarks of both Amazon.com's reviewer and of Leonard Maltin, who apparently disliked it for reasons I can't quite figure out. It is a good picture, and one of Stone's best. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Person Can Change Her Mind If She Wants!
Review: I can't stand Oliver Stone. I think the man is Orson Welles-pretentious and overblown. I can't stand football. I would rather watch reruns of "Family Double Dare" than watch football. And yet... And yet... I really, really liked this movie. As my husband said reflectively, about two thirds of the way through, lying next to me on our bed, totally engrossed by this solidly directed, well acted, well written diorama of our all american pastime, "I could watch this all night." I agreed. There are some weak spots to this movie, without a doubt. Matthew Modine, for example, had most of his part end up on the cutting room floor, I would bet. Dennis Quaid probably did, too. I have seen Dennis Quaid look better, by the way, in about any other movie you can name. He is beginning to look more and more like his brother Randy. Oh dear. This imbalance in their parts in this ensemble piece is more than made up for by another stellar performance by the incredible Al Pacino, who just keeps getting better and better as he gets older and older. He will blow you away as the coach of this uneven crew of messed up players at a critical impasse in their career as a team. And Jamie Foxx more than meets his challenge, playing with incredible class and finesse the young, up(chuck) and coming athlete of the day who needs to learn the big lesson that we stand united, or we lose. There is a reason it's called a "team". Cameron Diaz is as wicked as "the wicked witch" in "Snow White" and you just have to love her for the gusto with which she plays this one dimensional part. This movie is a love letter to football, the great American pastime. As directed by Oliver Stone, it has a lot going for it. I thought it was really fun, it kept me awake even though it was long, and I recommend it to anyone, even those of you who, like me, are doing things other than watching football...on "any given Sunday". ...best, Jean
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for an Oliver Stone film
Review: I expected to go into this film to find out how Oliver Stone could convolute the world of football. Thank heavens it was a fictional league! Superb football sequences really keep your interest in the film. Cameron Diaz (poor thing has a boy's name) finally got to act for a change. Grew tired of seeing Stone in the announcer's booth. Isn't having your name in the credits enough! Nice to see Charlton Heston as the football commissioner,too. It was also a pleasant surprise to see that Stone didn't try to politicize football or turn the film into a racial commentary. Elizabeth Berkeley (Saved by the Bell, Showgirls) takes off her clothes again - can't she land a role that isn't a hooker (AGS) or a stripper (Showgirls)? She was even naked on NYPD Blue! There were many other good performances - Matthew Modine, Jamie Foxx, James Woods (played the perfect jerk yet again), and the list goes on. The film was entertaining, but I could've done without the rap music with rampant profanity. ... Enjoy!
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