Well...

Rating: 5/10 (31 August 2000)

This flick just wasn't very good. The fact that we are immersed in the bone crunching and the jarring qualities of a contact sport is played out by the jarring camera work do not succeed in covering up the fact that this movie is not constructed very well. It just doesn't cut it on the technical end. Numerous continuity problems were so glaring on the screen that I wondered if the editors had gone on strike half way through production.
The writing is just as poor...No, I retract that; it was worse. An example? In the end, we get to see the owner contemplating on these events that changed her. Well, the writing is so thin that this character doesn't even show enough dynamism to portray a convincing change. And Pacino is no football coach. Not that his performance isn't the only saving grace in this trash, its just that he's not well cast. I have nothing against a football film portraying the intensity and meanness of its characters or the ruthlessness of the management, but this over-the-top picture is far too gratuitous in all aspects. Not just in violence factor, but as a whole. Half the film seems unnecessary. The message gets completely lost and the actors cease speaking like they believe in what they are saying. At points, the audience can find better dialogue in a middle school musical. The whole effort could have lasted 80 minutes, caused less grief, and I could have done something productive with that extra hour-and-a-half... Like sleep..oh wait, thats what I ended up doing the first time I tried to watch this c**p, anyway. Well, other than keeping myself amused by making fun of it...5/10 or C+ (thats generous)