Nothing But A "Vehicle" Film

Rating: 1/10 (5 March 2017)

Sometimes, movies are made where the sole purpose is to provide a vehicle for its stars or producers to bigger and better things. These "vehicle flicks" can, from time to time, be well- made, but most of the time they are shallow and focus on all the wrong things. That is a very apt description of "Any Given Sunday".
For a basic plot summary, "Sunday" focuses on the Sharks, a pro football team coach by "Al Pacino". When star quarterback "Dennis Quaid" goes down with an injury, third-stringer "Jamie Foxx" must step in and lead the team to the playoffs, all the while trying to be competitive so that owner "Cameron Diaz" can leverage the city for more money on a stadium deal.
Unless you are hopped up on Red Bull or steroids, this movie is pretty much an incoherent mess. It has no discernible plot, completely cardboard-cutout characters, and every single scene is punctuated by loud, driving, rock/rap music that essentially makes this experience feel like a 2.5 hour music video.
Instead, this is strictly a vehicle for these purposes: -Getting Diaz in a few more sexy evening gowns -Showcasing Foxx as "leading man" material -Letting director Oliver Stone screw around for 150 minutes and throw theme after theme in our face while developing none of them -LL Cool J showing he can "act" as well as rap.
The ONLY bright spot of this experience is the epic speech given by Pacino's character before the film's climax. Surrounded by utter dreck on both sides, that speech will (if only for a few minutes) get you fired up about something.
Other than that, though, "Any Given Sunday" is a total mess. The inclusion of James Woods (perhaps the single worst/most annoying actor of his time) almost seems fitting for such a stinker. If you are a pigskin fan who wanted to enjoy this one, I suggest you do so in the middle of a roid rage or other crazy emotional moment. At any normal time, this is 2.5 hours of time utterly wasted.