Any Given Sunday (1999) - Stone's bloated sports epic is mostly for football fans

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+ Best Actor's Breakthrough of the Year: Jamie Foxx

 

Al Pacino's screaming, massive face among the faces of his co-stars in a background of dark-toned American football imagery makes up this poster for Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday

The Miami Sharks' football team are under scrutiny during a dramatic season: The passionate coach, the owner, the city rulers, the quarterback star, the injuries, the fights ...

 

Any Given Sunday is written by John Logan (Hugo (2011)) and great New-Yorker co-writer/director Oliver Stone (Seizure (1974)), with Daniel Pyne (The Hard Way (1991)) contributing story elements.

It is a an enormously turgid, macho football movie with more shower scenes than many other sports pictures put together, - but it might also be an accurate portrayal of NFL football. It gets near to parodying itself as a sports epic, where the sprawling, character-focused, plot-less structure gives an eclectic experience of the football culture, where a game can feel like a life or death event, more important than anything else in the world.

The film has big, mannered performances (Al Pacino (Bobby Deerfield (1977)) goes berserk); a sexy and well-acting new star (Jamie Foxx (The Great White Hype (1996))); and Stone's cinematic grip on techniques and pizazz, which lifts Any Given Sunday a knee cap over strict banality. 

 

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Oliver Stone: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

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Snowden (2016) - Stone's inflammatory political thriller is a powerful must-see

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps/Wall Street 2/Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (2010) - Stone's sequel is an entertaining spectacle 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Born on the Fourth of July (1989) or, Beautiful Struggle 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 55 mil. $

Box office: 100.2 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.82 times its cost)

[Any Given Sunday premiered 16 December (California) and runs 162 minutes with a director's cut running 156 minutes. Stone went through several writers and books in the course of developing and refining the script. Cameron Diaz (Knight and Day (2010)) was paid 500k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from January - April 1999 in Texas, including Dallas, and in Miami, Florida. The film opened #1 to a 13.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#5-#4) and grossed 75.5 mil. $ ( 75.3 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Stone returned with Commandante (2003, documentary), America Undercover (2003-04, documentary) and theatrically with Alexander (2004). Pacino returned in Chinese Coffee (2000); Foxx in Bait (2000); and Diaz in Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her (2000). Any Given Sunday is rotten at 52 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Any Given Sunday? 

Fracture (2007) - Gosling and Hopkins have it out in Hoblit's solid thriller

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The prestigious star faces look deviously (Anthony Hopkins) and intelligently (Ryan Gosling) out of the shadows on this simple poster for Gregory Hoblit's Fracture

Young lawyer comet Willy Beachum is about to leave public defending for a hefty private pay, but he still lets himself be assigned to what appears to be a straightforward attempted murder case, - but which turns out to be, in fact, frustratingly complex.

Fracture is written by Daniel Pyne (The People (1997)) and Glenn Gers (The Accountant (2000)) and directed by Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear (1996)).
Ryan Gosling (Remember the Titans (2000)), - aged 27 at the film's release, - seems a bit young for his part here, but he acts well up to Anthony Hopkins (Desperate Hours (1990)), who sets his plastic face in its sadistic grooves as the accused husband.
Fracture is a very solid thriller with a couple of minor surprises; it is well-made and quickly digested. Its title bears no relevance for the story whatsoever.

Related post:

Gregory Hoblit: Primal Fear (1996) - Hoblit's law thriller works due to a strong plot and great performances

Watch a clip from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 91.3 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a minor flop 
[Fracture premiered 11 April (Los Angeles, California) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, in and around February 2006. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Disturbia, to an 11 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weeks (#4-#3) and grossed 39 mil. $ (42.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 8.3 mil. $ (9.1 %) and the UK with 6.6 mil. $ (7.2 %). If the film was made on a likely 40 mil. $ budget, it returned 2.28 times its cost, making it a minor flop. Hoblit returned with Untraceable (2008). Hopkins returned in Slipstream (2007), Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl (2007). Fracture is certified fresh at 71 % with a 6.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fracture?