They are the warriors and it's a war!

Rating: Null/10 (28 January 2000)

Oliver Stone is a very unconventional director and Any Given Sunday is a very conventional movie. But this doesn't means that it isn't good. In fact, it is one of the best sports movies I've ever seen, even though I am not much into American football. Therefore, the major attraction for me, was definitely the presence of a star cast in an Oliver Stone film. To see Al Pacino (one of the world's best actors) and Cameron Diaz (one of the world' s most beautiful girls) together with a supporting cast of stalwarts as Dennis Quaid and James Fox, is more than a dream come true. And each of them has performed very well. Al is great as usual; his short speeches before, after and in the middle of the game can make the blood rush in your veins. Cameron was always a great looker but shows that given a chance she's worth while actress too.
The cinematography is Oliver Stone's trademark. Five minutes into the film and any film junkie can tell that this flick is directed by Stone. The game scenes are great; the tension, the excitement, the jubilation, the dejection are all so real that one can almost touch it.
The portrayals of all the characters related to the game seem to emphasize on just one point: the players are more than mere sportsmen; they are warriors, the gladiators in the ring to fight till one of the fighters die. To drive home the analogy to Roman gladiators, Stone even shows a glimpse of Ben Hur on Pacino's TV.
When I earlier said its conventional, I meant that the movie progresses in a predictable manner and one expects more than the oft repeated last second finish from a director of Stone's caliber. I think, what I really missed, were the characters like ones we saw in U turn and Natural Born Killers (which is, by the way, one of my all time favorites, particularly because of the back ground score by late Nusrat Fateh Ali, Pakistan's leading vocalist). Characters that are more than superficial and have a deep dark side that one thinks one sees but doesn't.
However, Any Given Sunday is still a very good film and a must for all sports and film buffs alike.
Piece of advice: Do leave the theatre till the credits end, it still is an Oliver Stone film!