Oliver Stone is primarily known for his passionate takes on political subject matter such as J.F.K., Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July. As of late, his interests have seemed to shift with films like Natural Born Killers and U-Turn. Any Given Sunday is a loud, obnoxious look into the gridiron world of the NFL.

Al Pacino plays an aging coach who has his hands full with a new star player (effective Jamie Foxx), an out of commission quarterback (understated Dennis Quaid) and a smarmy female owner (underwritten Cameron Diaz.)

Any Given Sunday works best when it's on the playing field, despite its MTV editing style. Stone and his actors supply enough energy to put the audience right in the action. The film really falters when it gets personal. Stone tries to juggle too many story lines and much of the dialogue is very poor. In fact, in terms of writing, this is one of Stones worst efforts. Too many issues in the film are left unresolved and you leave the theater feeling a bit unfulfilled.

Much of the characterizations are one-dimensional. You've got the aging coach, the cocky star player, the annoying sports writer (who looks and acts suspiciously like Jim Rome), and a barrage of tough-talking ball players. It would have been nice if Stone had put a little more character into this story.

Surprisingly, Any Given Sunday remains a marginally good time, and you'll hardly notice its nearly three hour running time. I attribute most of this to Stone's unlimited energy, and for the most part, some very good acting. Any Given Sunday isn't a stellar achievement but Stone does manage to supply some lower-brow entertainment.