Rating: Summary: Absolutely Breathtaking Review: Now, it is clear and obvious that Olive might have tried a BIT too hard in making this movie very aggressive. But, with all the tension between the struggling football team, it seems to fit inside you quite well. The football scenes are very well made, especially the sound editing. It's almost as if you feel the players tackling right in front of you! I was rather skeptical with Al Pacino playing a once again ahrdbeat character and Jaimee Foxx playing one of the lead roles, but surprisingly, both were excellent, with Pacino's performance Oscar-worthy. Cameron Diaz fit well in here character, but she is not a very good actor, and it seemed to take away from the overall feel. With it's intenseity, brutality and truth, this game of football is seen as a war. And on any given sunday, you may win, and you may lose.
Rating: Summary: What a waste Review: Probably one of the top 5 worst movies I've ever seen.
Rating: Summary: Stone hooks us in again! Review: Lots of movies today are watered down. They are too long and filmed not for the artt of movie making, but for the art of money making! Oliver Stone has never been anything but a real movie maker provoking our thought processes with each movie made. He has done it again with Any Given Sunday, a technical and dramatic masterpiece. You do not have to be a football fan to enjoy this flick or the incredible acting performances of Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx, but it will help to understand the locker room jargon if you are. But here, Stone delivers a stimulating account of inside the NFL, and the boys that play the game. I was very impressed with the photographic clips of the game action, and the scintillating sound effects of the "noise"of the game. It told us that the violence is real, and that boys never stop being boys when playing the game. The relationship that grows between Pacino, the tired old coach, and Foxx, the third string quarterback thrown into action, is brought out beautifully by Stone, who never seems to get much credit for his work. Here again, the visuals are stunning. I also like the work of Cameron Diaz, the daughter of the owner who takes control of the team when her father dies. She's tough, and believable in the roll.I really liked this movie, including a great plt twist at the end....I bought the DVD, and watched three times in two weeks. To me, its a strong buy!
Rating: Summary: It's a guy thing. Review: This is the ultimate un-"chick flick." While admiring his talent, I've hated most other Oliver Stone movies, but in this case the film maker and his subject are perfectly matched. Stone, with his testosterone-driven, over-the-top style, was born to make THE definitive movie about pro football, and this is it. And it's not just about hikes and huddles and "big, sweaty mens" tackling each other. It's also about race, age, American culture, the stuff of life in general. Great action. Great music. Pacino's "Inches" speech is the best macho film speech since the opening scene of Patton. (Play it to get yourself going Monday morning.) The distracting, silly, not-authorized-by-the-NFL logos and team names are distracting, but it's otherwise as good as a pro football film can get. It's a guy thing.
Rating: Summary: It's a guy thing. Review: This is the ultimate un-"chick flick." While admiring his talent, I've hated most other Oliver Stone movies, but but in this case the film maker and his subject are perfectly matched. Stone, with his testosterone-driven, over-the-top style, was born to make THE definitive movie about pro football, and this is it. And it's not just about hikes and huddles and "big, sweaty mens" tackling each other. It's also about race, age, American culture, the stuff of life in general. Great action. Great music. Pacino's "Inches" speech is the best macho film speech since the opening scene of Patton. (Play it to get yourself going Monday morning.) The distracting, silly, not-authorized-by-the-NFL logos and team names are distracting, but it's otherwise as good as a pro football film can get. It's a guy thing.
Rating: Summary: Takes itself too seriously Review: Ok. I'm a big fan of football movies. This one was definately not at the top of my list. Despite obvious attempts to make this opus as heart-pounding as possible, Director Oliver Stone created arguably the most boring football movie ever made. The opening sequence takes us to the field during a late-season football game which starts out ok, but after about 30 minutes of jagged film mixed with grunts and crunch sounds I found myself thinking "get to the point Ollie." This movie spends WAY too much time on style. We are presented with montage after montage of football images past and present during important expositional scenes which are few and far between. There are more of these excruciating collages during character introspection which occurs way too often. All the game sequences are long, drawn out and predictable (I counted at least three slow-motion spiral passes floating magestically into the air. Please.) And for me to actually care about the outcome it might to throw at least one likable character in the mix. It turned out that Stone took two and a half hours to get to the point. And it wasn't worth the wait.
Rating: Summary: Bland movie with unlikeable characters Review: Is it a rule that Oliver Stone can't make a movie under 4 hours? Or maybe it just seemed that way as I labored through this one. The major problem is the character development. Dennis Quaid is injured within five minutes and, I guess, we want him to return to his dominant form-though we are only going on what they tell us. Enter the 3rd string guy-and he starts to shine. His character is unlikeable and that never changes. So when Quaid comes back-you don't want either of them to play. There was nothing to keep this football fan intrigued. If you want a real football movie-see Rudy. I've said it before and I will say it again. LL Cool J = Box Office Poison.
Rating: Summary: Oliver Stone and Pacino, how can you go wrong? Review: First off let me say i am not a football fan, yeah i will watch the Superbowl but i don't follow the game like my life depends on it. But this movie is so powerful, so gripping, so dramatic that you cannot take your eyes off of it. First you have got one of the top men in the field of directors, Oliver Stone, who does a small part as a booth anouncer in the film. His camera angels are unreal, the football action will knock you out of your seat. It is potrayed so brutally and raw that you almost cringe. You also have Pacino as the growling coach who delivers his lines with such power that it sometimes leaves you with your jaw dropped and goosebumps on your arms. He only gets better with every film, he hasn't done a performance like this since Heat. Throw in people like Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid and Jammie Foxx and you have yourself one of the best events to hit home video since American History X. The music is also extremely emotional and powerful as well, see this film.
Rating: Summary: Beware of movies with big stars Review: After Pacinos steller performance in The Insider I bought this DVD with high hopes. How could it be as bad as everyone had said, just look at the cast that signed there names along the dotted line? Well, it was bad.....oh my goodness, it was worse than bad, save for the well choreographed football scenes and always excellent acting from Pacino, this movie is incoherant tedium. We watch as overpampered football "heroes" go about their daily lives with such regular routines as chainsawing team mates sports cars and dabbling in sex and drugs. I was not surprised then to watch some of Hollywoods best actors walk around in a daze as the movie stumbles from one game to another. The scene index for the DVD is a big clue to the importance of the games to this moviw with eacxh one seeiming to start a new act. Really I am left wondering, what was the point behind making this movie? The extras go a little way to redeeming the DVD, with an admittedly too-short but informative documentary and for that reason and the game coverage combined with Pacino I give this movie three stars. Give it a rental people!
Rating: Summary: Any Given Director Review: Ok, first thing first. This movie is not very good. The acting is subpar on all fronts, with the exception of Jamie Foxx. This is definitely a breakout performance for him, and probably the best film work he's ever done....next to Great White Hype. =) Cameron Diaz is stiff and unrealistic as the team owner with obvious delusions of grandeur. Al Pacino has never been this bad. I almost felt sorry for him about halfway through it. Made me wonder if he just needed work. The many subplots could have been better represented. In contrast to one of the previous reviewers, I actually am interested in the plight of older players lied to and abused at the risk of their very lives. It's a very intriguing idea. The problem is that this movie didn't portray it well. Despite all those problems I still give this movie three stars. Why? Because it's pretty exciting, that's why. At no point in the film was I bored and even looked at the clock. It's a highly kinetic film based on a highly kinetic topic. I just wish someone else had been at the helm. Perhaps someone with a bit more football knowledge than Oliver Stone obviously has.
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