Oliver
Stone is primarily known for his passionate takes on political subject matter
such as J.F.K., Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July. As of late, his interests
have seemed to shift with films like Natural Born Killers and U-Turn. Any Given
Sunday is a loud, obnoxious look into the gridiron world of the NFL.
Al
Pacino plays an aging coach who has his hands full with a new star player (effective
Jamie Foxx), an out of commission quarterback (understated Dennis Quaid) and a
smarmy female owner (underwritten Cameron Diaz.)
Any
Given Sunday works best when it's on the playing field, despite its MTV editing
style. Stone and his actors supply enough energy to put the audience right in
the action. The film really falters when it gets personal. Stone tries to juggle
too many story lines and much of the dialogue is very poor. In fact, in terms
of writing, this is one of Stones worst efforts. Too many issues in the film are
left unresolved and you leave the theater feeling a bit unfulfilled.
Much
of the characterizations are one-dimensional. You've got the aging coach, the
cocky star player, the annoying sports writer (who looks and acts suspiciously
like Jim Rome), and a barrage of tough-talking ball players. It would have been
nice if Stone had put a little more character into this story.
Surprisingly,
Any Given Sunday remains a marginally good time, and you'll hardly notice its
nearly three hour running time. I attribute most of this to Stone's unlimited
energy, and for the most part, some very good acting. Any Given Sunday isn't a
stellar achievement but Stone does manage to supply some lower-brow entertainment.
