Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez are essentially the same limited person. That each have one outstanding characteristic – JLo has her ass, Foxx his mouth – which they shake incessantly while doing all of the other mediocre things – Singing, dancing and acting – that they claim to be their passion.
They’re both like a puppy having a ball as they bark at their own reflection in the glass, you admire the effort, but wonder when they will realise it is achieving nothing… Of course both of them are multi millionaires.
In Any Given Sunday Jamie Foxx manages to find himself centre stage despite a huge ensemble casts, many of whom were bigger names than he at the time. Somehow his comparatively untalented third string quarterback finds himself front and centre smack dab in the midst of a cut and thrust regular season (for a fabricated team), and even though his game has several flaws and is wildly inconsistent, he finds himself in the spotlight. A big star… I could draw a parallel but I’m pretty sure you just did.
The film has become known for the rousing speech of coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino), an old school man in a new school world under the watch of the precocious new owner played by Cameron Diaz. But the speeches – while solid – aren’t nearly as memorable or lengthy and prolific as I remembered. There are really only a few, and the longest might go ninety seconds.
No, what manages to fill the one hundred and sixty minutes screen time is the minor detail and minutiae that the couple hundred people involved in any professional sporting association’s day to day must face. The medicos, the jaded vets, the up and comers, hangers on and groupies.
For the players and coaches, pressure is ever present, and joy and elation is fleeting. Tension and friction are constant, and depression and anxiety very real. It seems the highs of standing at the peak don’t last nearly as long as the gruelling ascent and painful trip back down.
The film all at once follows several story strands, some go nowhere, others enjoy some form of resolution – not always a tidy or positive one. In this way it’s very much like real life, and also very much like director Oliver Stone could have culled fourth minutes without anyone really noticing…
And at the centre of almost all of this is Willie Beamon, (Jamie Foxx) the nobody from nowhere who is now Somebody going Somewhere. The dynamic between brash Beamon and the elder statesman D’Amato is pivotal, and obviously all too familiar for those who follow professional sports. Probably the only thing more shameless, is the forced symbolism involving gladiators and chariot races.
We get it Tony, football players are gladiators.
Any Given Sunday is obviously a passion project for Stone, but even with his indulgences – he has a cameo as a broadcaster – and the overblown moments, it is an effectively BIG film.
Just not nearly as Big as it thinks it is.
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. The NFL is America’s biggest pastime. At least the film wants to do it justice.
