50 Best Sports Movies Ever

42. Any Given Sunday

Year: 1999
Sport: American Football
Starring: Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J
Director: Oliver Stone

Professional football movies come in many forms, but the common theme is that the action on the field must be compelling. Realistic plays appeal to diehard fans, and the passion of critical moments and exciting actions reel in the more casual of followers.

Any Given Sunday did an excellent job of appealing to both groups of sports enthusiasts.

For all of the glitz and the glamour, Any Given Sunday is a story that accurately reflects life in the NFL. Al Pacino plays a head coach who’s stuck in his ways, Dennis Quaid is an aging legend who wants to keep playing, and Jamie Foxx is Willie Beamen, an exciting young quarterback with the raw talent to be a star and the ego to bring the whole team down.

Throw in Cameron Diaz as the new owner who cares only about results with no regard for the process and you have a story that mirrors the events of the real NFL.

The dramatic and cinematic effects can be over the top in Any Given Sunday, but they only add to how entertaining a film this is.

Pacino gives a number of unforgettable speeches, as only he can, and Foxx perfectly fits the role of the athletic young quarterback. Quaid’s attempts to hang onto his glory years, as well as LL Cool J’s veteran role, complement Beamen’s brash and arrogant persona.

Any Given Sunday wasn’t a perfect film, but it was a very entertaining piece of work that accurately represented a yearly struggle in the world of professional sports.

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