Stone is still the best director in Hollywood

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2005)

I saw this when it came out in 1999. I saw it last week again because I found the screenplay and read it. It was after reading the screenplay and then watching the movie again that I fully grasped what Stone was trying to tell me with this film.
The core of the film is that the game has been poisoned by money, greed and power. Player's play on steroids or Demoral. Pride and ego get in the way. Groupies and drugs are attractive pitfalls. Nothing new you'd say, but the way Stone exposes the game of contemporary football to us is so unnerving it's just hard to believe these people are our heroes, our modern-day gladiators. I never looked the same at the game.
As usual Stone casts newcomers (Foxx, Diaz) and puts them against solid actors (Pacino, Woods, Modine). He gets the maximum out of Foxx, but Diaz is just a bit out of her league. She tries, but fumbles in the end-zone. I loved the fact that Stone gave Berkley a role in a major studio film. Nobody wanted to touch her after Showgirls. But Stone did. I love that guy.
Stone is a master of a form that Tony Scott is not: fast and heavy, MTV-style cutting with steadycam and held-camera work. Only Stone can do this the right way. But you can see that Stone doesn't have the help of Robert Richardson, his DP since Platoon. It's not bad, but different.
Anyway, this film is (in the tradition like North Dallas 40) a true piece of sport cinema. Sentimental, but filled with terrific dialogue, great actors and action. Oliver Stone may not be the renegade he was, but he still is one of the best directors in Hollywood.