Brilliant! If you love football.

Rating: Null/10 (17 January 2000)

Any Given Sunday is a work of art for any true football fan. I do not recommend this film for others. Teamwork is a recurring theme. Pacino and the great Jim Brown have a conversation of how they played for the love of the game, implying that the present day athlete is controlled my big money and his egotism destroys the purity of the game. Ego destroys the concept of teamwork. The film shows great detail of the brutality involved on the field of athletic competition. Our heroes are not clear for much of the film, but the agitators are obvious. The players are testoserone based beasts, women are toys, football is life. Owners are control maniacs, advertisers manipulate life (football), and noone understands except Vince Lombardi. That was my early opinion of the film. The coach won me over. He devotes his life to the game. He has alienated anyone who ever loved him, touchingly portrayed during an early morning intoxicated telephone conversation with his ex-wife who of course hangs up on him when he asks why they ever got divorced. I redundantly state, this is a film for football fans only. There is love in this film, but it is a love of the game and it's players. There is one theme that might interest those who do not love football. The coach is like a father to the team. He fights for the good of the `family,' protects its interests, teaches the immature, allows mistakes to happen for the sake of learning, defends the injured, demands the truth, and inspires the soul. One example: A player is injured, LT (I hope you know who that is) the star linebacker. The trainer (expertly portrayed by James Woods) who had kept the severity of his injury secret is immediately dismissed. Against his better judgment Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) allows him to play only after signing a liability waiver. You can guess what will happen next, but that does not diminish the intensity of the fact. The 3rd string quarterback all the while is becoming a superstar. He is the young talented money and ego driven athlete with the attitude. He alienates the coach, but learns more about himself when his teammates turn their backs on him. A fan will enjoy the cameo appearances, I wonder how many will recognize "Johnny U." The closing half hour of the film goes according to what you might expect, but I guarantee the final moments will surprise you. Do not leave during the credits.