Any Given Sunday
Despite a few memorable moments, including the best locker-room speech ever, this bloated and chaotic football fever dream is all style over substance.
PRE-GAME 🏈
Welcome back to Balls on Film! 👋🏻
Happy New Year, everyone! I know that Larry David would be furious at me saying that on January 10th, but since this is my first day back with you in 2025, I’m giving myself a pass!
I hope you all had a great holiday and had the chance to relax and spend some time with loved ones. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks eating far too much junk food, watching lots of tv, catching up on some books I’ve been meaning to get to, and just generally enjoying being away from social media.
Getting this newsletter out has been a bit of a rollercoaster this week. My iPad Pro, which I use to write the newsletter and pretty much everything else, decided to just completely die on me at the beginning of the week. A visit to the Apple Store sadly proved fruitless, and they were unable to help. I’ve been going between writing this whole thing on my phone, and using my wife’s MacBook when I’m able to, to get things done. I’m not sure when exactly I’ll be able to get myself a new iPad Pro or MacBook, but hopefully there should be no disruption to the newsletter.
I asked on the Members Only chat, Notes, X, Threads and Blue Sky what you guys would like to see as the first movie of 2025 after receiving some requests for both Any Given Sunday and Jerry Maguire. You guys voted for angry Al Pacino, so that’s how we’re kicking off the year. Don’t worry, though - Jerry Maguire will be our film next week!
While we’re on the topic of (American) football, I was overjoyed with the recent news that Friday Night Lights is returning for a continuation/reboot at Peacock, and Jason Katims is back as show runner . It’s looking like 2025 is shaping up to be a good year for sports movies and tv.
With that, it’s about time for kick-off!
FIRST HALF 🏈
Have you ever seen one of those SportsCenter highlights of a moment during a game where a ball flies into the stands by accident and hits a fan square in the face? You know the kind of highlight I’m talking about - spilled beer and nachos, the impact of the ball hitting the poor guy in the face in slow motion, and the grimace and excitement of everyone watching on, unable to look away. Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday is the movie equivalent of that. It’s loud, messy and sometimes thrilling - but mostly, it’s just a lot of shouting along with one of the best motivational locker room speeches in movie history, all edited in such a way that will give you motion sickness. It’s the sports movie equivalent of a migraine, but it was also ahead of its time in a lot of ways too.
We follow Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino), a veteran coach of the fictional Miami Sharks team, who reluctantly turns to third-stringer Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) after losing his star quarterback. Beamen is a cocky, but talented player who has floundered in the league for years, but proceeds to put on a buzz-worthy performance that sends puts him firmly in the spotlight. This all leads to clashes between players, coaches, and team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), the only female owner in the league who has inherited the team from her father. She’s very much focused on the marketing and business side of the sport, and represents the changing of the tide in the league and modern day sports in general against the old school ways of D’Amato, who is struggling to adapt to the new ways of the game.
My main issue with the film, aside from the editing which we’ll get to, is that it simply tries to cram too much into one movie. You’ve got the aging players, greedy owners, ego-driven rookies, injuries, locker room drama and so many other minor subplots that it’s hard to keep track. Maybe it just feels more emphasised because of the chaotic filmmaking, but there’s so many elements of the story that just aren’t given enough time to breathe. Amid the chaos though, Al Pacino is absolutely fantastic as D’Amato, delivering a performance that swings wildly between a fiery intensity and a guy forced to quietly look inwards. His famous locker room speech is absolutely incredible, but I feel like it would have been even more impactful without as much noise and chaos all around it elsewhere in the movie.
There’s a ridiculously stacked supporting cast on display here, but even a near three hour movie isn’t enough time to properly utilise them all. Jamie Foxx oozes charisma as Beamen, as he battles with the sudden fame and pressure of the spotlight. This is actually one of my favourite performances of Cameron Diaz too, and I was actually quite surprised to find out that a lot of people don’t enjoy her role here. As Pagniacci, she’s ruthless and ambitious, and it feels like a much different type of role that I’ve been used to seeing from her. The cast is rounded out with the likes of Dennis Quaid, LL Cool J, Aaron Eckhart and James Woods - but it feels like the movie barely knows how to use them. This is one of these cases where I can’t help but feel Any Given Sunday would have worked better as a 10-episode series and a bit of restraint.
Let’s talk about my real issue with film - the editing. It’s unapologetically Oliver Stone and may work for some people, but I genuinely found it headache-inducing. It’s pure chaos. There are so many rapid cuts, split screen moments, picture-in-picture shots, slow mo effects, freeze frames, grainy flashbacks and jarring transitions that watching it feels like you’ve taken several different types of drugs all at once. It helps to heighten the chaotic nature of the game, both on the field and behind-the-scenes, but it also feels incredibly messy and dated. Personally I found it all really self-indulgent and off-putting, and it felt more like a hype video at times rather than a movie.
I mentioned it earlier, but one thing struck me watching this was how ahead of its time it feels. It’s pretty easy to see why the NFL chose to have nothing to do with the film. It’s got some really interesting things to say about corporate greed, and the commodification of athletes that feels even more relevant today than it did then. This was released in 1999, and it’s quite striking to see how it nailed exactly where the sport was going even way back then. Chuck in a few shots of Jamie Foxx doing the Griddy after a play, and you could set this in 2025. I’d actually love to see how a similar story would be tackled nowadays - but just maybe with a bit less chaos.
I really wanted to like this more than I did. The film does have an undeniable energy. It’s brash, unapologetic, and there’s some truly great ingredients there for something special. It just didn’t come together for me. You’re probably going to either love it or hate it, but it’s certainly not one I’d revisit in a hurry - outside of watching Pacino’s rousing speech on YouTube again. If you love Oliver Stone, American Football or movies with Kid Rock on the soundtrack, it’s definitely worth a watch. For everyone else, I’d say it’s an endurance test worth skipping.
Any Given Sunday is available to purchase on most digital platforms.
HALFTIME 🏈
Let’s take a break for halftime.
Here’s what else I’ve been watching this week:
Parenthood
One of my favourite television shows of all time has landed on Netflix, and I’ve started another watch through of the whole thing knowing fine well that it’s going to emotionally wreck me all over again. There’s not a single episode of this family drama where I don’t wish that I was also a member of the Braverman family. There’s also not a single episode that doesn’t make me tear-up, whether that’s with sad or happy tears. If you’ve never seen it, now’s the perfect time.
Parenthood is available to stream on Netflix.
Nosferatu
I was excited to kick off the new year with a new horror movie, but I was a bit hot and cold on Robert Eggers take on this classic tale. Everything on the run up to, and including, the initial pilgrimage to the castle is excellent, and had me absolutely riveted. But after that, the film never reached the same heights again. I wanted it to be creepier and much more chilling than it was, and Orlok didn’t do much for me at all sadly. The whole thing looked incredible though. Overall, I thought it was good, but not great.
In theatres now.
Dinner For One
For some reason - and I don’t know how, when or why this tradition started - but we always watch this 10 minute short every year, shortly after midnight to ring in the new year. Miss Sophie is celebrating her 90th birthday, and since the guests she is expecting are all dead, her butler decides to impersonate each of the four guests and give her company. It’s sweet and silly, and I now weirdly look forward to it every year. You can see watch it below.
Available to watch on YouTube.
As usual, let me know what you’re watching or what you’re planning to go see. Let’s get back on to the field!
SECOND HALF 🏈
Let’s jump into some awards and bonus content.
BEST SCENE 🏆
I’m not giving out an award for best line this week, because this award covers both scene and line with Pacino’s incredible speech.
MVP AWARD 🏆
No surprise, it’s Al Pacino. He’s the highlight here, and I despite not really being a fan of the movie as a whole, I could watch that locker room speech on repeat.
TRIVIA HIGHLIGHT 🏆
Per IMDb:
According to Oliver Stone, the NFL actively attempted to prevent players from taking part in this project, then San Francisco wide receiver Terrell Owens can be seen playing and scoring two touchdowns for the Miami Sharks. While the name on the back of his shirt is 'Owens', he wears the number 82 and not 81 as he does in real life.
BEST LETTERBOXD REVIEW 🏆
Oh how I chuckled at this. So simple, but so good:
BONUS FEATURE 💿
Here’s Aaron Eckhart sharing some fun behind the scenes stories from the film.
POST-GAME 🏈
Next week, we’ll get to Jerry Maguire. I’ve never seen it, and it’s been on my watch list for years so I’m very much looking forward to finally checking it out.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that we’ve not covered any racing movies yet. I’d love to know what your favourites are, and I’ll get to our first one very soon. 🏎️
See you next week! 👋🏻
~James
The notoriously un-subtle Oliver Stone and professional football may low-key be the greatest marriage of director and subject matter of all time.
Love NFL football, hated this movie.
No clue exactly why, since I haven’t watched it again since I saw it in the theater. One thing I do remember is that I disliked the way the in-game sequences were shot.
Also, it seems like the stadium roofs/ceilings were crazy low or something? Like every single punt or kickoff would bounce off of them in real life. If so, that one completely unbelievable detail would have done it for me. If it’s supposed to be extremely realistic and it’s something I know a lot about, you’d better get all of the details right.
I’m not 100% that was the issue, but it was something like that. Unfortunately (especially for the point I’m trying to make with this comment), I don’t have the exact details.
It just wasn’t for me, I guess.
Jerry Maguire, on the other hand, I loved.