Life as a contact sport

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2000)

* * * * (4 out of 5)

Any Given Sunday

Directed by: Oliver Stone, 1999

Simultaneously epic and earthy, Any Given Sunday is an astonishingly well-grounded drama given its premise.

Despite sticking to formula (one final game to determine everything) and dropping a few characters on the floor (Ann Margret as the alcoholic mother), Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday is fresh, energetic and skilfully crafted entertainment.

Stone dazzles with trademark flurried cinematography, but he also wisely fleshes out interesting and reflective characters in this no-holds-barred depiction of how pro sports has become strictly about the corporate dollar.

For football fans there's plenty to get excited about; Stone has made it clear that it's as much a work of ambivalent love as a homage to such classic football movies like Robert Aldrich's The Longest Yard.
Renowned for his cinematography, Stone here also delivers simply astounding and crisp sound editing. He also convincingly creates his very own pro football league as the NFL declined to offer any assistance. Some of the uniforms and team names therefore seem a little silly to fans (that includes me), but there's instant and added credibility in the form of cameos by such major former NFL forces as Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Warren Moon, Johnny Unitas and Dick Butkus.
Pushing the envelope while also staying focused on the inner workings of the game itself, Stone has once again created some amazing visual achievements. His trademark. I particularly enjoyed his ability to film from the quarterback's perspective. Something many have tried to purvey realistically but never succeeded in until now.
Hard hitting both on and off the field, Any Given Sunday is a showcase for some unmitigated brilliant performances by standouts Al Pacino (as the head coach) and Cameron Diaz (as the team owner). Also by a wide range of normally unappreciated American actors: James Woods finds just the right pose as the sleazy and suspect team physician, Aaron Eckhart is fittingly subtle as the talented offensive co-ordinator who lacks his coach's trust, Jamie Foxx is poignant as the rookie quarterback and rapper turned actor LL Cool J is believable and bittersweet as the star running back.
However; the culminating treat is Dennis Quaid, picking up the pieces from where he dropped them in Taylor Hackford's Everybody's All American back in 1988, continuing his likeable rendition of an estranged yet proud and honourable star quarterback past his prime.

`This game,' the thoughtful yet tormented head coach Tony D' Amato says to his rookie quarterback, 'this game has got to be about more than winning or losing.'
This kind of talk is cheap, sure, and we've heard it all before. But when delivered by Al Pacino  in an intoxicating performance that ranks among his most convincing  then these words suddenly feel like pillars to a Coliseum. And the meaning gathers new energy and purpose. The undercarriage of the movie  like the game itself  is about more than just blocking and scoring.

Oliver Stone tells us the stories of contemporary people from different strata of society and how they struggle to survive within this world of pro sports where most everything is conditioned by money. A world that is morally repulsive, but built on a tough and tactical game that at heart is as pure as the driven snow.
As a storyteller Stone is both audacious, unconventional and frenetic and occasionally he gives way to hyperbole (the eye injury) and strutting formula (the final game). But Any Given Sunday luckily never just wallows in testosterone  it describes the game and its participants, both on and off the line of scrimmage  and it only uses its sheer velocity to get around and address issues in a refractory manner. Stone catches the mentality of the star athlete today and he pities him more than anything else.

In the weeks leading up to my first viewing of Any Given Sunday I had seen a vast amount of terrific movies (among others The Straight Story, American Beauty and Magnolia), but that couldn't shake my faith in it. Because it works so well, is such inspired technical work and so benevolent by nature.
Any Given Sunday takes its deserved place among Stone's best movies: Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July and Nixon.
Maybe in time it'll even take its place among his very best: Platoon, JFK and Natural Born Killers.