Oliver Stone and Charlton Heston collaborating on a movie? Bring it on!

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2006)

Having dealt with various politically charged topics in movies, Oliver Stone looked at pro football in "Any Given Sunday". Set in Miami, Al Pacino is as intense as ever playing coach Tony D'Amato, near the end of his rope. Throughout the movie, there are many games (and conflicts related thereto), a lot of people get seriously injured (physically and emotionally), and other such things. But through thick and thin, everyone has to get on with their lives somehow.
I must say that the movie pulls no punches (note: there are no conspiracy theories here). Cameron Diaz shows that she can do a serious, gritty role here as Christina Pagniacci, who may be considering taking over the team. Maybe this isn't Stone's best movie, but it is a good, scathing look at a typically American sport. Why do we even call it football when we don't play it with our feet? Also starring Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, Jim Brown, Ann-Margaret, Aaron Eckhart and Charlton Heston. As a joke, I'll translate the cast into their most famous roles/images: Michael Corleone, The Mask's love interest, the "Far from Heaven" husband, a September 12th Republican, Ray Charles, a rapper, Pvt. Joker from "Full Metal Jacket", Mr. Blaxploitation, a 1960s sex kitten, a tobacco industry spin doctor, and Moses.
And to what can we attribute the fact that left-wing conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone and right-wing gun lover Charlton Heston collaborated on a movie? Maybe that they both caught some flak after Columbine (Stone directed "Natural Born Killers" and Heston held a pro-NRA rally).