Settles for a Field Goal

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 1999)

Sports movies are notoriously disappointing as 'serious' films(with the notable exceptions of "Hoosiers", "White Men Can't Jump", "Major League" and a sad few others). Unfortunately, "Any Given Sunday" falls more into the former category than the latter.
It's really a shame. I had been waiting for this movie ever since I first heard mention of it. If anyone can do justice to the epic nature of a football team and league, I believed, it could be Oliver Stone and his first-rate cast. Yet Stone has fallen victim to the meatloaf principle. A meatloaf is only good as long as you put in what you need to make it; when you start getting all the unneccessary ingredients, it's not really a meatloaf anymore. Stone's stunt casting detracts from establishing characters, and while the plethora of subplots and roles may be realistic, it doesn't help the viewability of the film much.
"Any Given Sunday" also gets boring, which isn't what you expect or want to see out of a high-octane machoismo football movie. Maybe its the length, maybe its the plot. Personally, I blame it on the characters. You just don't LIKE any of them about halfway through the film, and you just can't have that. As a friend said, "they were all too hypocritical." Once again, that might be realistic, but it doesn't help make the movie more enjoyable. Other concerns include jumpy camera angles that open the film and leave the viewer confused, and a loud soundtrack that drowns out some important dialogue.
This is a movie that begins with a Vince Lombardi quote, and to aim that high means that not all is bad. Certainly, the actual football scenes smack of realism and the end is worth waiting for. The credits also add a great dimension to the film, and the Pacino and Foxx performances weren't bad. Lawrence Taylor could have been an all-pro actor if he had more than the occasional appearance, and LL Cool J was in his usual charismatic mode. Isolated events aside, however, Stone has just bit off more than he can chew in this film. While "Any Given Sunday" isn't even close to the mediocrity of say, "Varsity Blues", it really just isn't a good movie, let alone a sports one.