Rating: 
Summary: Dramatic and endeering
Review: I saw this movie at the theater, and my boyfriend wanted to see this so I was nice and saw it with him. I am not into football but this movie had so much more than football to it. It showed that through the hardships this team stuck together, it was a real team spirit kinda movie. It was about love, friendship, and of course football. For the people that do not enjoy football and for people who do enjoy football either way you will like this. It has its moments also where it is also funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: [reviews have mentioned] about it being predictable and coming down to the last second and everything, but [who can] deny what this movie is showing? Just like another predictable football movie The Program, the point of the movie is to show what it is really like. Any Given Sunday shows you the hard truths of the game. It shows the old, traditional grind out the clock style is being replaced by the hip-hop west coast style, it addresses racism in sports, it shows us that players must get what they can get now because not much lies beyond the game,while very true stone's style is a very required taste, and sometimes the football action is too confusing and edited together in an MTV video style way, i think the better parts shine through. Pacino plays an excellent coach, his speech before the playoff game is classic. Jamie Foxx also gives another excellent performace. And i thought james woods character was very understandable and meaningful, showing the ethics and decision making behind risking your players at the risk of killing themselves(literally) simply for the bottom line of winning. And finally, dont go in trying to find an oscar winner. Have fun! Parts of it are suppose to be funny, part of the game action is suppose to entertain, Let go and marvel at the sheer idea of a sixty million dollar, three hour long Oliver Stone acid trip about true football, cherish it, theres not much like it around
Rating: 
Summary: Any Given Sunday... wait for the video
Review: On any given Sunday a movie will be seen. On this Sunday if you choose to go see Oliver Stone's football epic expect to see an extremely fast paced and predictable sports movie. This is your typical sports movie where the biggest game of the team's season comes down to the wire and the big hero of the team has to overcome all of the odds and challenges that are against him to win the big game for his team. And this is exactly what Any Given Sunday is. It is the sports movie we have come to expect these days. This movie presents nothing new to the sports movie genre. Instead it uses all of the same elements that popular and successful sports movies have used before it. The team in this case is the Miami Sharks headed by longtime coach Tony d'Amato who is of course played by Al Pacino. Al Pacino does a decent job with his character and performance but he plays your basic coach. The tough, mean coach who is obsessed with winning. He, like many other on screen football coaches before him is plagued with many personal problems including a broken marriage. This is the type of coach that we see in almost every sports movie today. The basic plot is also unoriginal and something that has been used many times before. The longtime legend quarterback who helped build the franchise and bring them to championship statis gets hurt and the new, inexperienced, young quarterback has to rise up and take his place. Dennis Quaid plays the older quarterback who is hurt. His performance is mediocre and nothing more. Jamie Foxx plays the young, inexperienced quarterback. He does not bring much to the movie either. The acting in Any Given Sunday is nothing special. It basically does not hurt the movie nor help it. Cameron Diaz plays the young stressed out owner of the Sharks who always seems to be screaming and yelling throughout the movie. She gets somewhat annoying by the end of the movie. The only reason she owns the team is because her father, the former owner of the Sharks died and passed the team onto her. The only thing she brings to Any Given Sunday is a headache. Other actors in this chaotic movie are LL Cool J as the team's running back, Bill Bellamy as one of the team's wide receivers, and Lauren Holly as Dennis Quaid's reluctant wife. Many famous football players make cameos of opposing coaches including such greats as Jim Brown, Dick Butkus, Bob St. Clair, Irving Fryar, Warren Moon, Terrell Owens, Barry Switzer, Lawrence Taylor, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas, and Ricky Watters. This movie is filled with these type of cameos. Legendary actor Charlton Heston also makes a cameo as the commissioner of the league. But the most mysterious performance comes from James Woods as the team doctor. I could never understand this character or what he does or why he does it. His dialogue is also very confusing. His whole character seems to be a mess. If you go to see Any Given Sunday don't count on seeing great, Oscar worthy performances. But you can count on seeing a lot of confusion. One thing is for sure about Any Given Sunday, it is an extremely fast paced movie. In many cases the pace is too fast to handle. If you like watching movie trailers I would definitely recommend this movie. Any Given Sunday is like a two and a half hour movie trailer. It comes at you and hits you hard until you can't take it anymore. The whole movie needs to slow down and develop its story and characters. The whole movie is also predictable especially the finale which is a shame because the whole movie seems to be leading up to a finale of titanic proportions. But instead the finale fizzles and leaves you saying, "that was it! " Oliver Stone trys to throw a curve at the end of the movie with that flag but it does not work. It is just a way to try to make the ending a little more exciting and thrilling with two big final plays instead of one. Any Given Sunday is definitely an Oliver Stone film. It is controversial and does make you question many things but there is no originality to it. Although there are good scenes that work well utilizing at least some decent acting there are many unappealing scenes that are very forgettable. Any Given Sunday trys to hit harder than any other movie has and it does. But the whole movie seems to go overboard with it. It trys to make a football game seem like the D-Day invasion from Saving Private Ryan. The funniest part of this movie is the opposing team's names, which range from the Knights to the Americans. That in itself shows the lack of originality of Any Given Sunday. **(wait for the video)
Rating:
Summary: Finally... a quality football movie
Review: With "Any Given Sunday", Oliver Stone has graciously decided to venture into the boundless void that is Hollywood's collection of enjoyable football films. America's pastime, which would seem to be an easy mark for screenwriters, has inexplicably been ignored or abused for at least the last twenty years. While baseball can claim a number of modern hits ("The Natural", "Field of Dreams", "Bull Durham", heck--even Major League); and basketball has given us "Hoosiers", "Hoop Dreams" and the undeniably fun "White Men Can't Jump"; football has paraded out the teen idol-driven "Varsity Blues", uninspired 1993 James Caan vehicle "The Program" and Major League's ugly cousin, "Necessary Roughness". Sadly, one could argue for "The Waterboy" as the best football movie of the '90s. Into the breach steps the formidable pairing of Stone and Al Pacino, and from their efforts come the first really enjoyable football-focused film in, well... quite some time. Pacino plays coach Tony D'Amato of the Miami Sharks, and brings his characteristic grit to the role as he struggles to bail out the sinking ship of his former championship team. Complicating his task is the team's owner, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), who is only concerned with the bottom line and feels that D'Amato's best days are behind him. Diaz is delightfully heartless as she looms over Damato's shoulder while he summons all of his guile and white-knuckle intensity to lead his veteran team to one more playoff run. The movie features loads of action shot in a low-angle, rapid-cut style that is occasionally confusing but generally effective. Throw in good supporting work by Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Matthew Modine and a surprising Jamie Foxx in a major role as a Johnny-come-lately quarterback and you've got a really satisfying sports film. Long-suffering football fans should be pleased with this one.
Rating:
Summary: MOST REALISTIC SPORTS MOVIE EVER
Review: Among Oliver Stone's work includes "Any Given Sunday" (1999), as good and realistic a sports movie as has ever been made. It features an over-the-top performance by Al Pacino as a veteran pro football coach who can still motivate his over-paid, over-sexed, over-drugged, slightly thuggish, mostly black (except for a few White Aryan Brotherhood linemen) mercenaries with a speech that sends Knute Rockne to the bench.
He reportedly is working on the story of the 1934 Republican industrialists who recruited Marine hero Smedley Butler to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt, which was the genesis of "Seven Days in May". We are still waiting for Tinsel Town to take on Kennedy stealing the 1960 election. It could be a long wait. If any producers are reading this, I am offering my services at the Writers Guild minimum.
Rating:
Summary: About more than just the game
Review: I'm not a football fan. In fact all I know about the game is that there is a ball that must be moved from one end of a rectangular field to the other. Stone decided to draw parallels between this modern game and the gladiators in Ancient Rome. The suggestions were anything but subtle, what with the grunting, clashing sounds, the numerous shots of Ben Hur and the actual references in the film you couldn't help but notice. Although this movie is ostensibly about football, I came away from it learning a bit more about life. The movie is about an old coach (Al Pacino) whose love of the game has blinded him to life's real pleasures, an injured QB (Quaid) who is easily manipulated by others to continue playing even if it is detrimental to his health. The daughter (Diaz) of a dead football 'baron', who seeks to fulfill her father's lost hope for a son, and a rising star (Foxx) who is blind to everything but his own gratification. From these cast of characters Stone creates drama. This movie is exciting even for those, like me, who aren't too interested in football. The game scenes seem more like gladiatorial battles than actual football games, and you are left wondering if we have really changed from those Romans thousands of years ago, the way 'we' love these slugfests. As some earlier reviewers mentioned, Stone appears to be slightly biased in his portrayal of the management of these teams. They are definitely out to make money, but I doubt they are as ruthless as they were made out to be. He should have had some perspective in this movie so as not to make it seem like the management were the 'baddies' and the players hapless pawns. Overall, this was a great movie. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes drama. For those with kids, you might want to watch it beforehand as it has some sexual scenes, nudity and quite a lot of obscene language.
Rating:
Summary: Finally... a quality football movie
Review: With "Any Given Sunday", Oliver Stone has graciously decided to venture into the boundless void that is Hollywood's collection of enjoyable football films. America's pastime, which would seem to be an easy mark for screenwriters, has inexplicably been ignored or abused for at least the last twenty years. While baseball can claim a number of modern hits ("The Natural", "Field of Dreams", "Bull Durham", heck--even Major League); and basketball has given us "Hoosiers", "Hoop Dreams" and the undeniably fun "White Men Can't Jump"; football has paraded out the teen idol-driven "Varsity Blues", uninspired 1993 James Caan vehicle "The Program" and Major League's ugly cousin, "Necessary Roughness". Sadly, one could argue for "The Waterboy" as the best football movie of the '90s. Into the breach steps the formidable pairing of Stone and Al Pacino, and from their efforts come the first really enjoyable football-focused film in, well... quite some time. Pacino plays coach Tony D'Amato of the Miami Sharks, and brings his characteristic grit to the role as he struggles to bail out the sinking ship of his former championship team. Complicating his task is the team's owner, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), who is only concerned with the bottom line and feels that D'Amato's best days are behind him. Diaz is delightfully heartless as she looms over Damato's shoulder while he summons all of his guile and white-knuckle intensity to lead his veteran team to one more playoff run. The movie features loads of action shot in a low-angle, rapid-cut style that is occasionally confusing but generally effective. Throw in good supporting work by Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Matthew Modine and a surprising Jamie Foxx in a major role as a Johnny-come-lately quarterback and you've got a really satisfying sports film. Long-suffering football fans should be pleased with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Any movie that's about football can't be all bad
Review: Are you suffering from the annual bout of post-Super Bowl depression (PSBD)? Is this Sunday, the first since the end of the NFL season, leaving you feeling lost, already looking ahead to September so you can resume watching a collection of pumped-up, tattoed freaks of nature perform astounding feats of physical prowess? Are you terrified at the thought of having to spend Sundays reading, going outside, or spending quality time with loved ones? Well, if you are, you could do a lot worse than to postpone the onset of PSBD by reclining in your favorite easy chair and watching Any Given Sunday.
Any Given Sunday has a lot to recommend it. It's got a sweet Hollywood budget, a cast loaded to the brim with talent (and no sign of Keanu Reeves, thankfully; I'm still having nightmares from the time I watched the Replacements), and the direction of the one and only Oliver Stone. In following the turbulent last quarter of a season in the life of the (fictional) Miami Sharks of the (fictional) AFFA, the movie combines an operatic scope with an almost fanatical attention to detail and loads of heavy philosophy for a film whose best moments (whether on the field or not) are as hard-hitting as anything you'll see in a real game. Sure, the movie trots out an endless series of hackneyed plot devices and stock characters, but Stone manages to breathe life into all of them.
A no-holds barred examination of professional football both on and off the field, Any Given Sunday is both completely believable and completely ridiculous at the same time, a monument to excess that is in itself wildly excessive. It starts punishing your senses right away, with two quarterbacks suffering catastrophic injuries and a third throwing up before taking his first snap, and it doesn't relax much from there on out, either in its torrid pace or in its commitment to full sensory assault. Indeed, this may be the fastest two-and-a-half-hour movie ever made. Like an all-out blitz up the middle, it comes at you relentlessly, and also like an all-out blitz, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. At times it seems as though Stone just tried to take the themes and conflicts that made Platoon such an artistic triumph and graft them onto a football movie. The movie goes for an outsized, epic feel at almost all times, with varying degrees of success.
At turns frenetic and painfully slow, Stone's camerawork makes for perhaps the best cinematic representation yet of the intensity and ferocity of pro football, and the movie's grasp of the game's strategical minutiae is a sign of a director who's done his homework. Of course, what happens on the field is only part of the story, as Stone makes sure to present the viewer with look at all the sordid goings-on that occur behind the scenes. It's here that the movie really throws everything but the kitchen sink at you, politely ensuring that boredom doesn't set in between game scenes. You've got fights; rampant substance abuse; players fornicating left and right; a mammoth SUV getting sawed in half; scads of gratuitous nudity; guys playing when they shouldn't even be trying to walk and chew gum and the same time; and lots of hot women acting extremely catty.
And that's just a short list.
Holding everything together and giving the movie its dramatic weight are two of our finest actors, namely Al Pacino and Jamie Foxx. Pacino's coach Al D'Amato is a grizzled, deeply flawed figure, rapidly seeing the game passing him by and realizing he has little to show for all his coaching achievements. Foxx's Willie Beamen is a third-string quarterback suddenly thrust into the starting role, and Foxx's steely-eyed performance perfectly conveys Willie's competitiveness and authenticity. Between them, especially during a one-on-one verbal showdown at Tony's house, Pacino and Foxx manage to encapsulate all of the movie's most compelling themes: the constant evolution of sports as they become ever more of a business; the tension between different ages and philosophies; and of course, the ever-present if rarely mentioned issue of race.
That's not all though; you can find plenty more talent where that came from. There's an almost incomprehensible number of big names in this movie, and most of them are overacting, which in this case is a good thing. There's Cameron Diaz in a nicely malevolent performance as the team's money-hungry owner; LL Cool J bringing his hip-hop persona to the role of a prima donna running back; Dennis Quaid as the star quarterback trying to fight his way back from injury and Lauren Holly as his twisted wife; James Woods as the team's soulless orthopedist; the legendary Jim Brown lending his usual gravitas to the proceedings as the grizzled defensive coordinator; John C. McGinley stealing scenery at every turn as a pompous sportswriter; and Lawrence Taylor basically playing himself, an aging, punchy linebacker.
Alright, I've somehow managed to fill up six paragraphs with this review, so it's time to cut things off here. At any rate, while certainly not without its flaws, Any Given Sunday is one immensely enjoyable movie, especially for the football nut. So check it out if you haven't already.
Rating:
Summary: Just a good movie
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Well put together, the acting excellent and convincing. Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz all very good and fitting in their roles, I didn't foster a big attachment to Dennis Quaid's character, but he was still good. The speach Al Pacino makes in the locker room "inch by inch" was very moving and adds tremendous feeling that the characters individually are all feeling at that time. I recommend this movie. If you liked "The Replacements" (One of my favorite movies), you'll just love this movie, although it does foster a different feel, and perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Director's Cut
Review: In the Director's Cut, the audio is horrible, the movie is just too long, and there is unnecessary footage put in. If you stick to the normal theatrical release you'll be fine and it makes a great movie for a football fan, but even if you don't love football, it's one movie taking 2 hours of your life to just sit down and watch.
|
