As a freshman at American High, I tried out for the football team, but that experience met with disastrous results. I hadn't improved much from my optimist days, and I was way too skinny to do any damage to anyone, so I spent most of the time getting the crap knocked outta me. In addition, all the guys were naked in the locker room. In the locke room after P.E. (phys. ed., gym, or whatever non-Miamians call it), it wasn't like that. Everyone in the PE locker room had the decency to keep their underwear on. Not so after football practice. I wasn't cool with seeing a buncha penises flapping around, and I certainly wasn't gonna expose MY tiny pre-pubescent pecker. Long story short, I quit high school football.
Movies that center around football remind me of all that stuff. Since the memories are all funny to me (without being all that humiliating), it improves the chances of me liking the movie. However, "Any Given Sunday" is a great movie, and I would have even thought so if I never played a game of football in my entire life.
I don't think I've ever seen more stylistically shot football sequences in a feature film. Slow motion, quick cutting, close-ups, extreme close-ups... it's all thrown in there, and it's done well. Very well. With Oliver Stone's movies, I can go either way. I like some ("JFK," "Talk Radio," "U-Turn") and dislike others ("Natural Born Killers," "The Doors"), but it can never be said that Oliver Stone doesn't make movies that LOOK great.
As you may probably suspect, there are quite a few cameos in this movie. You'll see a whole lotta sports figures in "Any Given Sunday," and a couple have roles that are a lot bigger than cameos. Former NFL running back Jim Brown (who's been an actor for decades now) has a big role, and the great Lawrence Taylor has a pretty big role, too. I was really surprised by his performance. He kinda talks funny (like Mike Tyson), but I'm not sure if it's because it's part of the character or if it's because of the gold teeth he wears in the movie.
As for the main cast, they're all exceptional. Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Aaron Eckhart (great independent film actor who was awesome in "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "In the Company of Men"), Ann Margret, L.L Cool J, and Cameron Diaz (in a role very different from the norm for her, but she pulls it off brilliantly) were all great. However, the big surprise comes from Jamie Foxx. An alumnus of "In Living Color," Jamie Foxx has been seen in comedic roles in raunchy movies like "Booty Call" and "The Player's Club," but he's probably best known from his comedy series, "The Jamie Foxx Show." I've never seen "Booty Call" or "The Player's Club" (though I'd eventually like to see both), nor have I seen his TV series, but in "Any Given Sunday," he was outstanding in his first dramatic role.
"Any Given Sunday" is based on two books. The first is the novel of the same name by Pat Toomay, and the other is the unusually titled "You're Okay, It's Just A Bruise: A Doctor's Sideline Secrets About Pro Football's Most Outrageous Team" by Rob Huizenga. The screenplay was written by Oliver Stone and John Logan (he also wrote "Bats"). The script was pretty good, but not excellent. Actually, it's pretty standard stuff for a football movie, just a lot darker. It's Oliver Stone's directorial work that makes "Any Given Sunday" so entertaining.
I really liked
"Any Given Sunday," and it's near three hour length flies by. You don't
have to be a football fan to enjoy this movie, and even those bored of the
formulaic script would appreciate the acting and the pretty images. If you'll
excuse my cheesy closing, I'll say that "Any Given Sunday" is a touchdown
(SORRY!).