Macho and totally American

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2000)

I rented this film because of the cast. I have no interest in football. This is a totally macho movie about a tired coach who, while attempting to bring his pain killer-addicted, crippled team to victory, comes up against a young Turk and the equally young, nervous heiress owner. I found myself drawn in by the marvelous performances of Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, (a young woman determined not to become yesterday's gorgeous ingenue and succeeding), Ann-Margret, James Woods, Jim Brown and others. It's a story about the old and young accepting one another, about teamwork and about aging, all noble themes. It's also about becoming a paralyzed invalid for money and putting aside any integrity you might have in order to win. On that level, this is a quintessential American film that could only have been made, of course, by a Canadian! All in all, very engrossing and exciting and definitely worth seeing, even if you couldn't care less about football.