Penalty - 15 yards for roughing the audience

Rating: 1/10 (2 August 2001)

I am a lifelong fan of the NFL (and USFL, WLAF, Arena Football, and college football). I also really enjoyed most of director Oliver Stone's early films ("Salvador", "The Doors", "Platoon"). That probably explains why I even bothered to watch this abomination all the way to the end.
There is no point in detailing all the things wrong with "Any Given Sunday". My primary objection is Stone's apparent desire to prove to Michael Bay, Joel Schumacher, etc. that NO ONE can over-direct a film like good old Ollie, who insists on pulling out every trick in the film-school book for no apparent reason. It is sad to see the creator of some of the most entertaining and provocative movies of the 80's and early 90's resorting to sensory overkill like just another hack from MTV.