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I'm going to start with the bad on this one, since there are legitimate flaws that should be addressed. This will contain spoilers throughout.
Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) is reached a little too quickly and easily in Tony D'Amato's (Al Pacino) pre-game speech. From the very first time the camera pans to him, he is already wide-eyed, latching on to every word. I don't buy it. This is a character consistent for not caring about anyone's opinion on football. I feel like his inspiration should have slowly built throughout the speech, beginning with his usual dismissal at the beginning of it and not fully taking hold until Jack Rooney's (Dennis Quaid) touchdown at the end of the half. In my opinion, this was the only flaw in Jamie Foxx's performance, which I will talk more about later.
In Christina Pagniacci's (Cameron Diaz) final confrontation with Tony, she lets drop the shocker of why her father left her the team and not Tony. It's an important scene. Unfortunately, the delivery of the follow-up line feels insincere as she tries to softly break the full explanation to him. Given how vicious she is in general, how aggressive every interaction between them appears, and the adrenaline of the moment, the sudden shift in tone just didn't convince me.
That's it, as far as I am concerned. Two mistakes. Both are significant due to their having fallen in really vital scenes. There are other things various fans and critics mention, and I will address some of those as well, but the rest can be labeled as directorial decisions. Those two moments were, to me, the only mistakes in execution.
Now for the good stuff, which there is a lot more of. I'd like to start with the scene I just referenced between Christina and Tony. As I said then, it's an important scene, not only because it might be the only thing she says in the entire movie that causes Tony to actually reevaluate himself, but because it may also be false. It is later revealed that her father just wanted a son, and tried to make Christina fill that role, which seems to be the greater motivation for the decision. What I like about the scene is that it is an example of what might be my favorite aspect of this movie: no one is ever 100% right (or, you could argue, 100% wrong). All characters in this movie have flawed/biased viewpoints. Some other examples:
-In the argument between Tony and Willie (over nasty jambalaya, a nice humanizing touch for the coach), Tony lectures Willy about taking responsibility for failures, something he shows himself unable to do. In return, Willy argues about not being given a real chance to prove his worth on any of his teams, yet his behavior shows that, as a result of bitterness from earlier years, he never gives his teammates or coaches a chance either. That one short back and forth between he and Tony painted a clear picture of a cyclical problem, with both sides responsible for self-fulfilling prophecies. It is some wonderful character development done very efficiently.
-When there is an argument in the locker room about Willie changing the plays and again when things fall about in the final season game, Rooney is quick to point out important (and somewhat accurate) flaws about Willie. However, his tone and approach show he is more interested in making his competition look bad than addressing the issue constructively.
-Everything about the breakup fight between Willie and his girlfriend. It was a wonderful scene, and possibly the best camera work in the movie.
A major complaint about the movie was the amount of "fluff" or filler scenes that had nothing to do with football and seemingly little to do with the plot. An example of this would be Willie's commercial/rap single being watched by the coaches, or a rather large portion of the interview between Willie and Jack Rose (John C. McGinley). While smaller portions of these scenes would have served plot purposes and had negligible effect on character development (by this point, Willie's character is fairly well understood, or should be), I feel that what felt like the "extended versions" of these scenes were forced on us to illustrate some of the points being made in the movie (some referenced by Tony directly), about how the game was being taken over by analysts and greed, and how Tony doesn't really love the sport any more, or at least what he feels it has become. This theory is supported by the fact that he has to watch the music video and interview despite not wanting to. We're supposed to be irritated by these diversions, and based on a number of reviews, I'd say it was successful, if not successfully interpreted.
Two other complaints kinda rolled into one. 1) There isn't a character I really sympathize with and 2) this movie doesn't seem to have an underlying message or point. I agree completely, and I think this is intentional. I feel the purpose of the film was to show some of the darker aspects of football and the fact that none of the characters come off looking admirable is one of the ways that is accomplished.
There are, of course, other things to like. Lawrence Taylor was wonderful, even if he was pretty much playing Lawrence Taylor. He added a lot of humor and real flavor. James Woods, Cameron Diaz and Lauren Holly (especially Lauren Holly) did a great job of portraying horrible people without seeming inhuman. Again, Diaz could have been better, but for the most part I enjoyed her performance, and she sold the character perfectly in her reaction to Charleton Heston's accusation.
All in all, this may not be an excellent sports movie, but it features an impressive number of interestingly flawed, believable characters and doesn't end where most sports movies would, which I appreciate. I hope this review helps you see something more in this movie and I am hoping to hear any comments you might have, as this is my first significant review.
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Customer reviews
Great acting, Good movie, my favorite of all..
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
Good Movie, GREAT football movie, very true to life, acting is spot on, not your typical athletic movie. It's up there with movies like Radio, The Whole Nine Yards (original) and so on. It has the right amount of comedic relief, drama, excitement/action and so much more. It really is a must for anyone who enjoys sports, especially Football.
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
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