ANY GIVEN SUNDAY
Any Given Sunday doesn't disappoint from an acting standpoint;
with a cast like this it could hardly miss. Al Pacino is the crusty old
coach (stereotype), Cameron Diaz the tough-as-nails young owner (stereotype),
and Jamie Foxx is the arrogant upstart quarterback (stereotype) filling
in for Dennis Quaid as the older, tried-and-true-but-physically-not-up-to-it-anymore
quarterback (stereotype). These actors, and others in the supporting cast,
put forth excellent delivery of what there is in the Stone/Logan sreenplay,
resulting in a football film that strives to be more but doesn't make it
— Stone can't muster enough meaning in the script to justify all his
pretentious directing choices. No amount of clever cutting and spectacular
scenery can make up for the fact that it's a hum-drum story we have seen
many times before, with characters cut out of an old-fashioned play book.
The Miami Sharks, coached by the once-great Tony D'Amato, are suffering
through one of their worst seasons in years. Although they won the league's
highest trophy a few years back, they have struggled all year long and are
on a four-game losing streak. When their quarterback, Jack "Cap"
Rooney (Quaid) suffers a serious back injury and then their second QB is
dispatched soon after, D'Amato must go to his third-string choice, the young
and inexperienced Willie Beamen (Foxx). Though terribly nervous, he makes
a good showing, and soon is starting (and winning) every game. While Cap
recuperates, Beamen becomes famous as the rookie who saved the team.
He is not only noticed by millions of fans, but by the team's owner,
Christina Pagniacci (Diaz), who looks at the game completely from a dollars-and-cents
point of view. Christina, daughter of Tony's now-deceased buddy, runs things
more aggressively than the old man did, and Tony is more than a little put
off by her controlling style. As the playoffs approach, and Beamen's celebrity
mounts, Christina makes it known that she wants him to start. But the new
star has become so cocky he has alienated the entire team, and Tony wants
Cap back.
See what I mean about the story not justifying all the artsy imagery? I mean, it's just another run-of-the-mill football story. Still, it is helped immeasurably with supporting performances by James Woods as the team doctor more interested in being shown the money than in the health of the team, LL Cool J as the team's golden receiver, and John C. McGinley as the sports reporter who feeds Beamen's inflated ego with every broadcast. Overall, Stone's salute to the gridiron (which features himself as a TV sportscaster) is well-shot, well-acted, and reasonably exciting, but it ultimately seems to be making a mountain out of a mole hill. ****