In a nice performance, Jamie Fox as Willie Beamen tries to remember what it cost him to become the new overnight sensation for the Miami Sharks. Cameron Diaz's talents are wasted as the villainous owner of the Sharks, as are Ann-Margret's as her alcoholic mother. People involved in this ugliness are driven and absorbed by celebrity. Puffed-up announcers in the press box fill airtime with cliches. Postgame parties expand sexual reputations.
Dreadful wives operate within a pathetically limited paradigm.
It's all about who you know. Oliver Stone presents men as grotesque sides of beef inflicting injuries that didn't happen when normal-sized men played the sport. It's only about money-and blood, betrayal, painkillers, needles, and playing on decorated grass. The crowds, the noise, the spectacle are garish and cruel. The sound-effects men are kings of this field.