[.ca] Any Given Sunday (Widescreen Director's Cut)

From Amazon.com:
Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone's salute-cum-exposé of pro football, belabors some pretty obvious points for nigh onto three hours; but between the frenetic editing, the pounding rap-music beats, and several flashy performances, it's certainly never dull. Al Pacino, coach of the fictional Miami Sharks (the NFL declined involvement in this production), struggles with the most time-honored of sports movie dilemmas: what to do with the old friend who's past his prime and the young hotshot who could save the franchise but first has to learn what being a team player is all about. Comedian Jamie Foxx does a marvelous dramatic turn as the rookie quarterback whose ego and talent are equally impressive, while Pacino seems more at ease in Oliver Stone Land than any actor since regular James Woods (on hand as well as a sleazy team doctor). Prowling the sidelines, shouting spittle-flecked orders, seizing up in almost physical pain when a play goes the wrong way, Pacino is as unashamedly--and entertainingly--hyperbolic as Stone's whirling montages of boiling storm clouds, bloodthirsty fans, and players smashed into the mud. (Once again football, perhaps the most sophisticated of team sports, is viewed cinematically as a bunch of guys hitting each other in slow motion.) Unfortunately, all the self-conscious mythologizing and pumped-up macho posturing that Stone can muster doesn't conceal a clichéd, slapped-together script, whose few good ideas (mostly about race in America) jostle about with several hoary, terrible ones--including a too-literal analogy of football players as modern gladiators. (To drive the point home, Stone includes Charlton Heston--the aging Ben-Hur--in one of many star-powered cameos.) All in all, Any Given Sunday is never dull, but never very enjoyable, either. --Bruce Reid

Additional Features:
First and Goal: The Making of Any Given Sunday was originally broadcast as an HBO "First Look" featurette. It tries, with mixed results, to match the frenetic, multiformat aesthetic of Oliver Stone's film, but the interviews are worth a look. Unfortunately, Al Pacino is conspicuously absent. As for Stone's director's cut, the previously unseen footage--consisting of extraneous gridiron violence and gratuitous nudity in a post-victory party scene--adds little to the film.

Not quite there, but entertaining.:
In Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, the audience gets hit by cliches as fast and as hard as the fictional Miami Sharks' quarterbacks get hit by other players during the film's opening game. The audience also get hit hard by the (overly) kinetic editing, both of the film and of the mish-mash adrenaline pumper of a soundtrack, featuring an assortment of rock, rap, and techno beats. Stone and co-writer John Logan push (overly) to get us to buy into their vision of the NFL as a modern gladiatorial arena, and frankly, it doesn't always work; Logan would later get his gladiator fix by co-writing Ridley Scott's crowd-pleaser, well, Gladiator. Still, Logan and Stone manage to score some points with their (overly) broad script which tries to give us an all-encompassing view of modern professional football. Inevitably, it proves too much, and the writing just proves too wide in scope to create a balanced and clear film, though it does have its shining moments, such as when Coach D'Amato (Al Pacino) has comments on the (overly) commercial persona the NFL has adopted, or when Cameron Diaz's character's mother describes the "tragedy" that is her daughter. Pacino, completely at ease in an Stone flick, gives his first real performance in a long time. Both in his in-game frenzy and in his drunken, sadder scenes, Pacino delivers the goods. Comedian Jamie Foxx also turns in a winning dramatic performance as the rookie quarterback. Come to think of it, the whole cast is stellar and all perform well. Stone seems to bring out strong, almost flamboyant, performances in his actors, and in Oliver Stone films, that's very appropriate. However, the MTV-inspired soundtrack and cinematography detract from the serious delivery of some of the film's concepts. At times, the film seemed more an extended music video than anything else. Any Given Sunday is a rough movie, both in terms production and in content. The film, despite its lengthy runtime, still feels like it left much of its ideas unsaid; the script just tries too cover simply too many characters and concepts, leaving many of the key players in a somewhat shallow and cardboard like state. Still, Any Given Sunday is an entertaining movie, and fans of football, Oliver Stone, and movies overloaded with dizzying amounts of music and testosterone will no doubt be pleased by the time the credits roll.

I love Oliver Stone:
but this movie is excruciating to watch if you're a true football fan (that is a fan of the strategy, rather than the hip-hop/Texas dumbass cultures it often represents). Stone does do a good job of capturing all that is wrong with professional ball. But none of it is anything that a football fan doesn't already know. The only thing he puts any humanity into is the Dennis Quaid character. And that storyline uses, what, 15 minutes of the 3 1/2 hours of rap, drug use, misogyny, money-grubbing and power tripping that we have to sit through to endure this film. How long can a movie be? Well, when the credits start rolling before the dialogue is even finished, you know somebody other than yourself had a problem with the film's length. This movie is way over the top in every category except 'heart'. And heart is a true athlete's greatest attribute. So in comparison to Rudy or Hoosiers or Brian's Song or almost any other sports flick out there, this film is a travesty. If, however, you want to compare it to Wall Street, it's probably one of the truer business movies available. I personally was expecting to see a football film. Instead I wasted 3 1/2 hours of my life watching corruption. I can do that come Monday at work.

pretty good,but a bit slow and long:
this movie has a lot of good things going for it.one of them is the great ensemble cast.this includes Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz as the marquee names.however,i don't think they were the stars of the show.that distinction is shared with the supporting cast.there are some big names here.Jamie Foxx and Dennis Quaid are both terrific.LL Cool J also puts in a strong performance.James Woods give his usual good performance.in smaller roles,but no less effective,are Matthew Modine,Aaron Eckhart and John C.McGinley.Lauren Holley,though, puts in a very strong performance and really impressed me.the movie also has a high degree of realism during the scenes on the football field.you can hear every bone crunching hit wit astounding clarity.and there is a high energy atmosphere for the most part.there are some down sides to the movie,though.one of these is the running time,at over two and a half hours.i felt they could have shaved off maybe twenty minutes.also i felt that the movie doesn't always follow through with the momentum it builds.it gets a bit tedious at times.finally,the scenes with Cameron Diaz and Al Pacino together.i felt Pacino tended to overact a bit,and Diaz seemed a bit out of her depth.Diaz was pretty good otherwise.anyway,for me,Any Given Sunday is a 3/5

MOST REALISTIC SPORTS MOVIE EVER:
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.

About more than just the game:
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.