"Any Given Sunday" (1999) 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Randy Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, Mathew Modine, LL Cool J, Ann-Margret, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor and Charlton Heston. Directed by Oliver Stone.
So, what is Oliver Stone trying to tell us in "Any Given Sunday?"
That football is no longer a sport. That it's a microcoism of America. That the players aren't playing for the love of the game, but for the money, the endorsements, the women.
That the owners are now bottom-liners who don't look at their players as human beings, but as commodities to be traded, dropped or beefed up with drugs like cattle then sent out to the Sunday afternoon slaughter.
Gosh, I knew all of that just by reading the daily newspaper.
But you must give Stone credit. In his own overwrought, overly kinetic manner he has driven home his point with all the force of an all-out blitz on third-and-10.
Does he tell us anything we don't already know. Not really.
Yet Stone is so sincere, so evangelical that you can't help but admire the man and forgive him his excesses.
"Any Given Sunday" is not a great movie, but it is a solid entertaining vehicle, even at about two hours and 50 minutes.
And Stone doesn't leave any stone unturned. He shows the generation gap between coaches and players; the cloaked racism that exists amongst teammates; the owners whose loyalty is not to the fans, but to the money; as well as the cameraderie that coalesces 11 individuals into a single unit - a team.
The performances in the film are strong, but Stone's cinematic style distracts from any appreciation of the actors' contributions.
Stone cannot keep his camera still for a moment. He continually jumps around, cross-cuts, inter-cuts, changes film stock to the point where you cannot concentrate on the story.
It is as if Stone knew his subject matter what not the strongest material, so he decided to jazz it up, make it seem more important, more urgent than it was meant to be.
"Any Given Sunday" is merely a routine movie wrapped in an epic's clothing.
Al Pacino as head coach Tony D'Amato gives a strong turn as a man who must be friend, bully, father confessor, motivator and tyrant to those around him. He is a man who has sacrificed his family for the game. He is a mercurial man who can slide from bitterness and self-pity into evangelical fervor to rouse his players.
Cameron Diaz is tough, spoiled and mercenary as the young team owner who inherited the franchise from her father. To her, the Miami Sharks are merely a commodity. If she could move them to Los Angeles to boost their value, she would. Her loyalty is to the bottom line.
Dennis Quaid shows a quiet dignity as the veteran quarterback who realizes his time has passed, while Jamie Foxx is vibrant, cocky and pragmatic as the third-stringer who gets a chance to shine and make a name for himself.
But the real star of "Any Given Sunday" is Stone, and he doesn't let you forget it. His signature style is all over the place, as he intercuts from scene-to-scene, from locker room to the private boxes where, like in the days of Rome, the rich watch these contemporary gladiators batter each other for their amusement.
"Any Given Sunday" is an interesting vehicle. Stone has done better work, most notably "Platoon," "Born on the Fourth of July," "JFK" and "Nixon." But no one who sees "Any Given Sunday" will look at football the same way again. And perhaps that was Stone's intention.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom at iquest.net
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