|
Less about football
and more about how professional football dominates the lives of those who play
it, Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday is a remarkably compact movie even
at a two hours forty eight minute running time. With, perhaps, an unnecessary
ten minutes of music vid type stuff, the flick is stuffed with half a dozen good
stories all rotating around two time Pantheon Cup winning coach Tony D'Amato (Al
Pacino), whose team is aging as his career and personal life falls apart.
I said half a dozen
and I meant it. Let's count: D'Amato versus the new owner (Cameron Diaz),
daughter of the old and more concerned with stats and the bottom line than old
school football; 39 year old first string quarterback Jack "Cap" rooney
(Dennis Quaid) who's facing the uprights for the last time; Mrs. Rooney (Lauren
Holly) who's not about to let her celebrity stud retire; Third string QB Willie
Beaman (Jamie Foxx), who's spent 6 years on the bench and doesn't know
how to lead a team; the alcoholic mom (Ann-Margret) who's seen what owning
the team did to her late husband, and now her daughter; and the $5 grand a night
hooker (Elizabeth Berkely) who brings a little cheer to D'Amato's otherwise
cheerless holiday season.
And there you have
it. Half a dozen, not counting the miraculous rebirth of the team and the run
for the Pantheon Cup -- make up your own ending, 'cuz the clock hits :00 halfway
into a successful playoff season and then jumps to post season. It's just what
you want under the tree, a piece of cake you can eat and have, too. Unless, of
course, you're the negative type, in which case you can fantasize that the team
blows it big time.
The negative is
simple: this flick is almost three hours. The positive is simpler: This may be
the best work out of Cameron Diaz in all the years that I've been watching her
on screen. Yes, better than Being John Malkovich.. It certainly is from
Jamie Foxx, who is the hands down winner in this flick. At nearly three hours
this flick (almost) doesn't feel like it. Ten minutes less and this would have
been a hands down winner.
On average, a first
run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price
to Any Given Sunday, he would have paid...
Date flick for
the guys. A "recommended" level, less a buck for the time.
The
Cranky Critic® is a Registered Trademark of, and his website is
Copyright © 1995-2008 by, Chuck Schwartz. Articles by Paul Fischer
Copyright © 1999 - 2006 Paul Fischer. All images, unless otherwise
noted, are property of,©, ®, T their respective studios and
are used by permission. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or copied
for any commercial purpose. Academy AwardT(s) and Oscar®(s) are registered
trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
Buy
movie posters!

TV/Movie Collectibles

online movie critics
Privacy
Policy

We're Kidlet Safe
Search engine
by FreeFind

click to search site
Now in
Release:
The Band's Visit
Definitely Maybe
Hottie and the Nottie
In Bruges
Iron Man
Be Kind Rewind
Rambo
Cloverfield
Mad Money
U2 3D
28 Weeks Later
Black
Book
Bourne Ultimatum
Brooklyn
Rules
Death at a Funeral
Evening
The
Ex
Fido
Georgia Rule
Grindhouse
Hairspray
Harry Potter - Phoenix
The Hoax
Hot Rod
I Know Who Killed Me
La Vie en Rose
License to Wed
Live
Free or Die Hard
Mr. Brooks
Next
No Reservatons
Ocean's Thirteen
Perfect Stranger
Pirates of Caribbean
Ratatouille
Rescue Dawn
Rush Hour 3
Severance
Sicko
Simpsons Movie
Slow Burn
Snow Cake
Spider-Man 3
Stardust
DVDs
on Sale:
300
Alice
in Wonderland
Batman
Begins
Bambi
Beauty
and the Beast
Blade
Runner
Bridge to Terabithia
Charlie
+ Chocolate Factory
Cinderella
E.T.
Fantastic
Four
Forrest
Gump
Gone
With the Wind
Harry
Potter yrs 1-3 set
Harry
Potter Azkaban
The
Incredibles
Indiana
Jones trilogy
The
Lion King
Lord
of Rings 12 discs
Mary
Poppins 40th LE
Ultimate
Matrix set
Miss Potter
Monty
Python - Grail
Napoleon
Dynamite
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Shrek
Shrek
2
Sin
City
Sleeping
Beauty
South
Park Movie
Spider-Man
Spider-Man
2
Star
Wars Ep. 1
Star
Wars Ep. 2
Star
Wars 3 Full Screen
Star
Wars 3 l'box
Star
Wars Trilogy (4-6)
The
Island
War
of the Worlds
X-Men
X-Men
2
|