Any Given Sunday
Life is a contact sport.
CAST
Tony D'Amato: Al Pacino
Christina: Cameron Diaz
Jack Rooney: Dennis Quaid
Willie: Jamie Foxx
Julian: LL Cool J
Dr. Mandrake: James Woods
Dr. Powers: Matthew Modine
Supporting Roles: Lawrence Taylor, Oliver Stone,
John McGinley, Charlton Heston, Lauren Holly,
Aaron Eckhart, and Jim Brown
On
any given Sunday, millions of people watch football games hoping to see a good,
60-minute game, but instead are treated to 2 hours of commercials weaving in
and out a 60-minute game. Many older
people do not watch football games to protest the game’s new identity, which
has changed from football to business.
Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday is an accurate depiction of the
corporate business, which football has 
become.
The movie begins
by showing the Miami Sharks, who are in the midst of a three game losing
streak, losing their first and second-string quarterbacks, one of which was
Miami Sharks legend Jack Rooney (Dennis Quaid). Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) is next on the depth chart, and after
a shaky start, performs like a star.
As Beaman
progresses, tension between him and Coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) begins to
rise. Beaman, who represents the young,
hip hop generation of football, believes the plays D’Amato uses are too old for
the game’s new style. D’Amato,
representing the generation of football, which produced so many greats
including Y.A. Title and Jim Brown (who are each in the movie), believes his
championship-winning plays will work in any situation.
Conflicts also occur between the team doctors, Dr.
Mandrake (James Woods) and his assistant Dr. Powers (Matthew Modine), who
disagree about how to care for the players.
Mandrake believes that the players’ pains can be instantly solved with
painkillers, while Powers believes the players need rest or possibly retirement
to avoid serious injuries. The team’s
star linebacker Shark (Lawrence Taylor) suffers a life threatening injury, but
wants to play because he will be paid a $1 million bonus if he can get a few
more tackles. Despite the severity of
the injury, Mandrake tells coach D’Amato that Shark can play.
Many critics have
been upset about Stone’s confusing football footage, claiming it is
incomprehensible and unrealistic. This
makes me wonder the number of those critics who have played football before
because football is confusing. It is a
difficult and exhausting sport, but to an observer it looks as if anyone can do
it. Stone tries to show the game from
the athletes’ perspective, which is the reason for the image distorting
footage. Anyways, why do critics praise
Stone for making his Vietnam War movies confusing, but trash Stone for making
his football movie confusing?
The true greatness in this movie lies with its actors.
Led by Pacino and Foxx, an all star
cast was able to take a semi-clichéd sports story and turn it into one of the
best sports movies ever. Al Pacino, a highly
acclaimed Academy Award winner, fits the role of an old, broken down coach as
great as always. Unexpectedly, Jamie
Foxx, who is a comedian by trade, plays the role of a conceded, know-it-all
athlete just as well. Not to mention the
superb performances delivered by Modine, Woods, Taylor, and Lauren Holly.
This
film also reminds us of a great filmmaker, who had been idle for the last half
of the 90s. Stone’s best movies are set
in the1960s, which is the time Stone is most familiar with. However, Stone has the ability to broaden
his horizons and make masterpieces fitting any time period, which is also
evident in this film.
ANY GIVEN SUNDAY EXTRA CONTENT
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