MPAA Rated – R
It’s 2:42 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
Any Given Sundy
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
Warner Bros. |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Nope. Very adult story line. |
| Date Movie: |
You make her watch football every Sunday, do you think you should force her to watch any more? |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Some. |
| Gratuitous Violence: |
It’s about football – there’s some violence. |
| Action: |
It’s about football – there’s some action. |
| Laughs: |
A chuckle here and there. |
| Memorable Scene: |
Nothing sticks out. |
| Memorable Quote: |
Nothing sticks out. |
| Directed By: |
Oliver Stone |
This may sound petty, but the main problem I had with “Any Given Sunday” was the fact that the football action sequences sucked. The story was alright, Jamie Foxx did a great job as the coming-of-age quarterback, and when does Al Pacino ever give a bad performance? But even though Oliver Stone is Oliver Stone, and maybe it wasn’t his intention to have cool football sequences, going to a football movie I want to see some good football. “Any Given Sunday” didn’t have good football.
The story kinda goes like this: Al Pacino plays a weathered coach, Tony D’Amato, brought up when football was history, for players, owners, and fans. The owner died and left the team in the hands of his daughter, played by Cameron Diaz, who believes the coach’s thinking is old and is hurting the team.
When coach loses his star quarterback, Cap (Dennis Quaid) to an injury and the youngin, Willie Beaman (Foxx) takes charge, you can feel the changing of the guard from old-time football to new-time football, and it’s too bad. But there is hope because Willie quickly learns that as much as football is about him, there is no “I” in “team” and without his team his life is shit. And who helps him open his eyes, you guessed it, Tony.
The story is kind of simple and shows how dirty and profit-driven sports has become, how it isn’t about the players at times (the painkillers and bad medical advice) but at times is still about the players (the painkillers and bad medical advice – kind of along the “what else am I going to do with my life, coach?” mentality). And it’s a good story, although kind of long, and that helps carry the movie, because, like I said, the action sequences went for an artsy feel instead of making you feel the hard-hitting sport that is football.
So this review is short. “Any Given Sunday” had a lot of potential, and a lot of that potential rested in the hands of Pacino, Foxx, and Stone. As a story and as an acting lot the movie was good. But it is a football movie, and with that comes one expectation – great football scenes. I wanted to feel the action. I wanted to cringe when players got hit. I wanted it to be better than “Inside Football” on HBO. I didn’t want a long, drawn-out, artsy shot of a football spiral coming at me. I got the spiral. That disappointed me and with that disappointment comes a 3 ½ stars out of 5.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
