Any Given Sunday: Critic Reviews

A visual concussion.

Sunday is the latest example of this year's worst movie trend, in which hyperstylist directors attempt to force their way through flawed, poorly developed stories by 'showing their stuff.'

Probably the most predictable -- and blatantly commercial -- movie [Oliver Stone's] ever directed.

Any Given Sunday has the dubious distinction of being the very first football picture to treat the audience like it's the football.

Choc-a-bloc with manly blather about sacrifice and honour and rugged individuals pulling together for the greater glory of the team.

Almost three hours of this jitter deteriorates from bravura filmmaking to annoying mannerism, and Any Given Sunday ends up less than the sum of its many, often interesting parts.

Stone isn't interested in merely bashing modern football: Any Given Sunday looks at the best and worst of the sport. [Blu-ray]

...it's hard to tell if Stone was making a serious sports movie here or a parody of a sports movie.

Hit and miss, certainly, but intense stuff.

You'd have to be a very undiscriminating football die-hard to get anything out of it.

With few surprises and little to say in this film, it is unclear why Oliver Stone was interested in making it in the first place.

A meathead burlesque.

Stone's hilariously broad and belabored critique of American sports culture ...

This isn't the best film by Oliver Stone, but it is a first-rate job nonetheless.

Os excessos visuais de Stone (tao bem utilizados em seus trabalhos anteriores) e o fraco terceiro ato, mais conveniente do que o apropriado, comprometem o resultado final.

Loud, long and exhausting.

Any Given Sunday doesn't disappoint from an acting standpoint; with a cast like this it could hardly miss.

A solidly-acted action-drama hybrid whose cartoonish asides largely undermine the greater subtext.

Ultimately, Any Given Sunday will disappoint football fans and won't win any new converts to the game, and worse, is just a painful film to watch

The cast does an impressive job.

...the movie remains watchable if only for Pacino's amazing performance and the action-packed football sequences.

Never has so much talent been wasted in such cinematic chaos.

Oliver Stone's take on the world of pro football scores a few field goals, but is extremely short of a touchdown.

When pressed to say what has changed football from an all-American game into the sleazy business it is today, Stone feebly points a finger at television as the culprit, then wriggles away from the question.

Amidst all the drama, there are comedic moments, such as the Sharks' version of the self-congratulatory end zone dance the Dirty Bird, the metal-vs.-rap locker room debate and the loose crocodile in the shower.