Any Given Sunday: Are You Ready for Some Fake Pro Football?
Click to watch the Any Given Sunday trailer at Zuguide.com
With the Washington Redskins heading to New Jersey to kickoff this year’s NFL season against the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, I’ve decided to go into the vault for one of the few football films to portray the game in all its violent, cutthroat, egotistical glory. Even though Any Given Sunday doesn’t feature real NFL teams, director Oliver Stone was able to cast Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor as a defensive coordinator and a linebacker, respectively. And, while the level of authenticity is strained just a bit by having Al Pacino coach a team named the Miami Sharks, the realistic game play, the depiction of the players’ great physical sacrifices, and numerous off the field confrontations more than make up for the strange logos and wacky mascots.
The Any Given Sunday trailer begins with a bolt of lightning before showing flashes of players battling on the gridiron as Pacino descibes the personal sacrifices he’s made for the game. We then see quarterback Dennis Quaid sustain a career-threatening hit, which leads to a battle between Pacino and team owner Cameron Diaz over the direction of the franchise. With Quaid out of commision, Pacino calls on Jamie Foxx to take over as the Sharks’ signal caller. Foxx’s recklessness, inexperience, and ambition put him at odds with his coach and running back LL Cool J, but despite direct warnings Foxx vows to continue to play his game while he has the chance. While the team falls into disarray under Foxx’s divisive influence, Diaz takes out her frustrations on Pacino and let’s him know that she thinks he’s washed up. My favorite part of the trailer comes the first time we see Foxx on the field, getting hit and spun end over end while diving for a touchdown. Any Given Sunday opened December 22, 1999. Check out the Any Given Sunday trailer at Zuguide.com.
