rated on a 4-star scale screening venue : odeon ( liverpool city centre ) released in the uk by warner bros . on march 31 , 2000 ; certificate 15 ; 170 minutes ; country of origin usa ; aspect ratio 2 . 35 : 1 directed by oliver stone ; produced by lauren shuler donner , dan halsted , clayton townsend . written by john logan , daniel pyne , oliver stone . photographed by salvatore totino ; edited by stuart levy , thomas j . nordberg , keith salmon , stuart waks . " any given sunday " is a dramatic immersion in the world of american football , looking further than commentators and managers , and jumping right in there with the guys in the huddle . the film gives us its view on the current state of the game , with character studies of both players and executives , but also reminds us of the intense physical experience of playing . for true sportsmen , that's the real thrill ; for a lot of people in this movie , it's just something that they must go through in order to get big pay cheques . at the heart of the movie's narrative are scenes showing pitch action from a first-hand point of view . if sometimes they seem irrelevant or confusing -- well , that's the point ; players often look at their games in the same light . some reviews have accused the moments of being unnecessary stylistic excess , but that's just because many journalists feel obliged to make unfounded attacks on the director , oliver stone , a man who does not avoid using bold techniques to tell his stories . this time he follows a season in the life of the miami sharks , an american football team coached by tony d'amato ( al pacino ) . tony has lost a few games in a row , and his old-school patience for things to get better is not shared by today's press , who savage him whenever he puts a foot wrong . the new owner of the sharks , christine pagniacci ( cameron diaz ) , is just as hasty , and demands an immediate solution to her squad's poor performance . a young hotshot quarterback called willie beamen ( jamie foxx ) could be the answer , because he has made some great plays in a few successive games , and looks slick on magazine covers . tony is cautious , though ; he senses that beamen's ego could be dangerous , and the lad would not be a wise replacement for 39-year old star performer jack " cap " rooney ( dennis quaid ) . egos are a big influence on all this , because professional sport is a business built around the talents of temperamental athletes . disagreements over management strategy also play a big part , because it's a business full stop . and it's an atmosphere where ethical standards are hard to keep up -- one of the doctors in " any given sunday " feels it's his duty to allow players to go on the field when injured , even at risk of death , because " for these guys football is life ! " we're so used to thinking of everything as corrupt in this day and age that none of the above is particularly surprising . it's impressive , though , that stone has managed to cover so many areas and get such a convincing overview of a sport . my only complaint is that the structure could have been tightened into something more urgent . stone's best films -- " platoon " , " talk radio " , " born on the fourth of july " , " jfk " -- sweep us off our feet with angry gusto and big emotional payoffs . " any given sunday " is content to document , observe and convey . while it does all these things well , a little more passion would not have gone amiss . copyright ( c ) 2000 ian waldron-mantgani <a href= " http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic " >http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic</a> 
