Best football film... without any football involved.

Rating: 8/10 (16 November 2004)

It is amazing how little Stone choses to focus on the actual game of football, instead, he does his best to detail all of the surrounding issues of the game - from the corrupt trainer to the mercenary running back. Perhaps the only aspect of the game that he doesn't cover - presumably from lack of time, rather than lack of desire (although Stone is never seemingly held back by the length of a reel) - is the influence of the fans. We see glimpses of the overweight, sweaty, face-painted hooligans up in the crowd, but it'd be interesting to get a little more out of them.
The soundtrack is exceptional, and does a great job of creating stadium-level tension in your living room. In a traditionally masculine fashion, we watch this film every year before the Superbowl. Were I slightly more full of myself, I'd go on and on about how it reminds us of all the 'little people' that make a football team work. But really, it's just an enjoyable flick.