Hard hitting, Powerful

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2000)

This movie from the outset, sets you up for a classic movie experience, and while it is more a character movie than a pure football movie, it does not let you down. First of all, it isnt nearly 3 hours, it falls just shy of 2 1/2, and the final 5 minutes are with credits added, which was a really interesting touch, almost a tv show ending where the 1st credit comes up, then you get the final minute (here 5 mins) of stuff before its over.
Back to the film, it is not easy to follow what's happening in each game, Stone obviously wanted it this way, more letting you feel the impact, until you reach the point in the movie where he does want you to be riding every down. I got a laugh when I saw that Miami's Pro Player Stadium was used as an LA home field, it would be obvious to most this was a silly trick which you pick up immediately. Every one of the 10+ stars in the movie do a great job, and Foxx and Pacino are a great duo, Foxx was much better than I though he could be. The only beef was I would have like the teams to be NFL names, but being a Cowboys fan it was great to see the movie shot inside Texas Stadium for the final 25 minutes or so. Great Movie, 8/10.