On A List of Movie Reviews

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Any Given Sunday (1999)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 6/04, 4/08, 9/25

AnyGS
4/08: Any Given Sunday is the modern version of North Dallas Forty about the chaos and lifestyle of professional football players.

The violent editing simply rapes my eyes and has me thinking of scheduling an appointment with the ophthalmologist sometime soon. On the DVD cover, there's an exclamation, "AS GOOD AS MOVIES GET" when it should be "AS BAD AS MOVIES GET."

Believe it or not, I do think of Any Given Sunday at times, because I'm a fan of the NFL, and see the relevance and similar parallels. Sometimes, there are moments that are uncanny in real life which makes me wonder if Oliver Stone knew ahead of time.

Of the performances, I love Lawrence Taylor's whose bit in the sauna is scary good. It's reminiscent of Marlon Brando when he was covered in shadows at the end of Apocalypse Now. Unfortunately, the rest is unwatchable, leading to this foregone conclusion: nobody had seen a football game before.

All in all, there isn't a difference between watching Any Given Sunday and banging my head repeatedly against a wall.

9/25: '6' is the highest I can go for Any Given Sunday.

While some things are true in the professional world of (arena?) football, it's just an upgrade of North Dallas Forty, but the camera work, especially during the games, is consistently awful. Even the editing is overdone. How about that player losing his eyeball on the field? Two words: no...way.

When things are calm, the cast does shine through. The standouts are Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz. Dennis Quaid brings credibility to the table because he was Gavin "Grey Ghost" Gray in Everybody's All-American. But James Woods' role is too short.

Lawrence Taylor is a big bonus, giving the best performance of his career, and he would know how this game worked. Other legends appear such as Jim Brown, Dick Butkus, and Johnny Unitas. At one point, Terrell Owens randomly makes a touchdown catch; where was he the whole time before the playoffs? The Sharks could've used him to win more games.

Tony D'Amato decides to be the head coach for Albuquerque Aztecs, taking Willie Beamen with him? Well, good luck. Here's my prediction: Willie Beamen will go on IR before retiring the following season. That's because he sucks given that it'll be his seventh season and he was third string, coming out of nowhere, for the Sharks. In other words, he's a flash in the pan. Oh, yeah...making and releasing a rap video in the final month of regular season football will never happen, either.

All in all, a combination of North Dallas Forty and The Program is better than Any Given Sunday