Unconvincing characters

Rating: 6/10 (1 June 2001)

Stone always has people who "represent" a point of view first, and are characters second. (Classic example...Tom Berenger & Willem Dafoe in PLATOON). However, usually his filmmaking is strong enough to make us believe the people anyway. This is a lightweight Stone, and his female characters in particular are unconvincing. Cameron Diaz is horribly miscast...she gets to cuss and act mean, but to what purpose other than to be the character that represents "young, money-hungry, tradition-despising business people of today." Lauren Holly...what the heck was that character?!?! And Pacino, who can be good, is allowed to indulge in all his mannerisms, but to no purpose. I kept expecting a line like "I try to get out of football...but they always pull me back."
I enjoyed some of the more minor characters a bit more...some of the young football players were really well done. James Wood was wasted, though.