Touchdown for Any Given Sunday

Ok I have to say I am a huge football fan but when this movie came out it just didn’t appeal to me. Well after watching it on DVD I could kick myself for waiting to see it so long.

Any Given Sunday is about a football team who has hit a slump. Their quarterback has just been injured, their coach is over the hill, and their general manager is know it all collage graduate who has just inherited the team from her father.

Al Pacino plays Coach Tony D’Amato who is struggling to keep his team alive so they can make it to the playoffs. After 4 strait losses his first string Dan Marino like quarterback played by Dennis Quaid is injured and then tragically his second string quarterback goes down as well. Coach D’Amato is left with the third string quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx). It looks like Beaman will be the team’s salvation but his rise to fame soon gets to his head and his attitude begins to tear the team apart.

The team struggles to win and keep their playoff hopes alive while their coach struggles to keep his trusted veteran players on the roster and peace in the locker room.

This is one of those movies that you find yourself yelling at the TV and forgetting that this is a fictional football team. I don’t care for many football movies but this one really was great. The intensity that Al Pacino brings to this film is possibly what makes it so believable. He lets you in to see what it is like for a coach who has lost his family due to his career choices may possibly be at risk of losing his job. You see that football is more than just a sport. There are politics and money involved and it almost seems that those two factors suffocate the beauty of the sport.

Then there Cameron Diaz she is absolutely amazing in this movie. I am not a fan of hers at all but this movie may make me have to reconsider my opinion of her work. She plays the General Manager of the team. Inheriting the team from her father she just doesn’t know what it takes for a winning team. She interferes with the coaching of the team and is partly to blame for the low moral among the players. Towards the end she redeems herself only by realizing what she is at risk of losing.

Jamie Foxx plays an arrogant quarterback brilliantly. We watch as he goes from an unknown to a hero in a matter of days. He transforms from a wonderful person to a self-righteous jerk. We watch as he struggles to be the person he really is.

Dennis Quaid really does remind me of a close to retirement quarterback. Realizing that his body can’t take much more he still wants to hold on so that he won’t disappoint those around him.

L.L. Cool J was so enjoyable in this movie I have forgotten what position he played. Like most of his film roles I have seen, his likeability shines through any character flaws his character may have. He is a team player who disapproves of Beaman’s style of football.

Directing: It is not very often that I really notice the directing in a movie but when I do it is because it is brilliant. I have always been a fan of Oliver Stone and I think that this movie is some of his finest work. He knows what he wants from the actors and he is able to get it. He successfully brings you into a world that few of us know but many of us watch on Sunday.

Soundtrack: Well I must say I didn’t really care for their choice in music but I guess a beautifully composed love ballad was not what was needed on this film.

The Games: With other football movies I have seen, I must say I have never been convinced that there was an actual game in progress. With this movie I really felt that I was watching a real football game.

I honestly believe that most people will enjoy this movie. While it is a football movie I think even non football fans will enjoy this movie. There are internal struggles going on and it is interesting to watch each character deal with those struggles.

Actors:
Al Pacino
Cameron Diaz
Dennis Quaid
James Woods
Jamie Foxx
LL Cool J
Matthew Modine
Charlton Heston
Ann-Margret
Jim Brown
Lawrence Taylor
Lauren Holly
Elizabeth Berkley