Shakespearean quality in story and acting, an outstanding Stone-Movie

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2002)

I was told there was too much virtuosity in the filming, giving you a headache. Finally a (good) friend told me I had to see it. Boy, I'm glad I did.
Shure, if you know Stone filmed most of the sport-action scenes with I-don't-remember-how-many cameras, you become aware of the unusually multiple angles. But even those serve the movie, they're no playing-around gadget shots.
This is not another sports-movie. It could take place in a number of other areas (i.e. any other team sport, big business etc.).
There is a wonderfully written story. About winning and losing; about the fear of not being up to it anymore because you got older, because you crossed that line with everybody noticing but you; about youth, with its naiveness, its recklessness and sometimes its tendency to do anything - or not ! - to achieve recognition...
Al Pacino does it again; the young Jamie Foxx was born to play that 'alien' nicknamed super-player; Cameron Diaz gets a deserved chance to show she can do a dramatic part TOO; Dennis Quaid hasn't been that good for a while...
Everybody is just in his right place, and what takes over isn't one of those marvelous actors: it's the story. A story about human beings, their love of power, glory, and their weakness, their readiness to betray... all for the love of the game. Which offers us just wonderful moments of the coach talking to his team like a father to his family, about life and death all being on the same level with the playing as a team.
I was blown over, what a great surprise, Stone being as fresh as ever, and for once leaving (professional, rotten) politic issues on the side, to tell a tale about human politics.
Yes, the movie slows down towards the end, but by then, you've seen more than enough to keep your mind on it for a while.
Very, very warmly recommended!