 |
Any
Given Sunday |
| Rated
R |
| Runtime:
2 hr 42min |
| Starring:
Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and LL Cool J |
|
MFG
Rating: 3/5
|
How can you
go wrong with a football movie starring Al Pacino and an allstar cast? Well,
one way is to let Oliver Stone make it.
The story here is
about a clash between the old traditional football and today's newer game with
high scores, big salaries and even larger egos. Al Pacino is in the role of the
old coach while Jamie Foxx is the hotshot young quarterback who wants to play the
game his own way. Although coach and quarterback are the centerpiece of the movie
we see the same conflict at all levels of the game ranging from the team physicians
to the owners. But most of the film is set where it should be in a great football
movie, on the field and in the games.
So what's the problem?
The problem is Oliver Stone got artsy fartsy with this thing and really made the
movie difficult to follow visually. He inserted alot of freaky imagery into the
scenes much as he did in Natural Born Killers. He also did some very jerky editing
while zoomed in very close to the players during the games. I'm sure he was attempting
to demonstrate the speed of the game, but instead he just made it less enjoyable visually.
This is a crying shame as he had some topnotch football scenes going thanks to a very
talented cast including Lawrence Taylor. I would've loved to have been able to actually
see some of those hits and plays. For this I wish a big festering boil on the left
buttock of Mr. Stone.
This movie had a
chance to be the definitive football movie with a great story and an allstar
cast. Get a load of some of the names you'll see in this flick in addition to
Pacino: LL Cool J, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Ann Margret, Jim Brown, Cameron Diaz,
Lauren Holly and even Charlton Heston. And of course Stone stuck
himself in there too. If you doubt his ego consider that he makes you watch the conclusion
of the movie thru the credits so you can see his name in glowing neon fonts 3 or 4
times.
Edit out the
artsy crap and fix the visuals and this movie would be absolutely outstanding. It
would also cut it down to a shade over two hours instead of the nearly 3 hour
bladder busting epic that it is now. And while I'm talking about the flaws in
this movie, I must also point out that there's a ton of flesh in this movie, but
all of it is hairy and masculine. I'm not talking about women who wear
comfortable shoes here either. There's several full on winkie shots and tons of
naked male hiney, but only one good female breast shot in the entire movie.
Although I was
disappointed that this movie came no where near to living up to expectations, it's
still entertaining once your eyes adjust to Stone's visuals. Also one thing the
movie does correctly is have one hell of a good football game as the grand
finale. If you're an Oliver Stone fan you'll find this to be a great movie. If
you're not, if you are at least a football fan, and especially if you enjoyed movies
like North Dallas Forty, you'll still enjoy it.
-
Billy Bob
|
Gun Play
None, but I'd rather
be shot than take some of the hits in the games in this flick.
Blood & Gore
A little blood,
a little puke, and one major bowel explosion.
Car Chases
No, but I dont
recommend parking your truck on Lawrence Taylor's lawn.
T&A
Alot of flesh,
but unfortunately most of it is muscular and hairy!
Chuckles
Some good
locker room humor. |
|