I can't hear anymore.

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2000)

Hey! Heeyyyyyy, can you hear me? You can't? HOW ABOUT NOW? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOWWW?? Does it sound like I'm yelling at you?? Well if it does, then you have a basic idea of what this movie is about. It's loud, brash and not all that subtle.
Any Given Sunday is a football movie...American football in case any of you were wondering. It's about a team that has an aging star quarterback, Jack Rooney (Dennis Quad) and an aging coach, Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino). The two have been together for years and the relationship is more of a father-son relationship than it is a player-coach relationship. The season hasn't been going very well and to make matters worse, Rooney gets injured early in the season and will be out indefinitely. He's in the hospital and the team turns to their backup quarterback; a not too bright guy. The team goes on a losing streak and eventually the backup gets hurt too. In goes the third string guy, Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx). After a rough start, things begin to turn around as Beaman begins to change the plays and do the things that he wants. The problem is that the team is winning and Beaman has gone from a third string quarterback to a star player in the league. The team makes it to the playoffs and Rooney recovers from his injury. Now the coach has to make a decision of who to play. Does he stay loyal to Rooney or does he go with the brash, out of control but talented Beaman? The coach has very little control and management, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) is demanding results yet has an agenda of her own.
If the story sounds a little convoluted to you then you're not alone. I found it hard at times to follow and very loud. There was music running almost constantly and the camera shots of the football games were very quick and "in your face". Be warned, if you have epilepsy, you may suffer a seizure. I know I almost did with they way they cut scenes and how loud it was. This movie was unbelievably long too. It's almost three hours long and when you think it's about to end, it drags out another 20 minutes. I do have to say though, the ending was interesting. I'm not sure if it depicts how football life really is though. I've never played so I can't comment on it.
Despite those negatives, I have to say that Al Pacino was very good. But more surprisingly, I liked Cameron Diaz's performance. I saw her in "Something About Mary" and thought she was ok at best but in this movie she was extremely good. This is the first time that I have seen Jamie Foxx and I actually liked him quite a bit. Look to him for more good things in the future.
Overall, I'm luke warm to this movie. It's basically a three hour music video and may induce a brain lock. See it either as a matinee or wait until it comes out on video.