The finest film about sports ever made

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2002)

Let's get a couple of things straight:
I'm a 'limey' through and through, and know next to nothing about 'Football'. In Britain, most people consider 'Football' (I use inverted commas because we Brits call soccer 'football', too) to be a tamer version of rugby, played by wusses who are have to hide behind acres of padding. Anyone who continues to think that after watching this movie is clearly quite demented.
My only experience of 'Football' before this was playing John Madden's Football on the Playstation, so I never thought a good movie could be made about the sport. Even under the capable guidance of Oliver Stone.

BUT Any Given Sunday is so well acted, so incisive in its handling of the financial and ethical pressures facing the sport, and so brilliantly directed that I will NEVER get tired of watching it.
Jamie Foxx is especially surprising, notably in his showdown scene with Al Pacino, perfectly portraying the attitude and idiosyncrasies of an arrogant young hot head who had been catapulted to fame almost by accident. In English Football we have plenty of players just like this.
Even Al Pacino is great, and I normally hate the guy (if I want to hear a tired looking man shout at me incoherently, then I'll walk into a bar and spit beer in the bartender's face).
However, you definitely don't need to be interested in sports to enjoy this frenetic, amazing film. The match scenes are closer to the battle scenes in Gladiator then to any other sports film. As you would expect from Stone, the focus of his film (i.e. a fictional football league) is a microcosm for American society and no stone is left unturned; racism, corruption, heroism, self-destruction, greed, power... it's all there.
If you don't watch this movie, damnit, you don't deserve eyes. And if you do watch it, then remember to shield your peepers for the sickening injury scene right at the end... Ouch...