3. Any Given Sunday
Let us take a break from the serious undertones, shall we? AGS is probably my favorite football movie ever. Sure we loved the racial barriers that were broken by the Titans. Sure I cried when Gerry Bertier wrecked his car. But this was the coming of age football movie. This was the new age of football. This was Willie Beamen's time, and I'll be damned if Dennis Quaid was going to stand in the way. The film was a close look at many aspects of the football world. We had the power struggle between Head Coach and Owner. We had the drama with the veteran Quarterback going down to injury only to see the young backup come in and take off with the team. We have the young, agile, play-making Quarterback bursting onto the scene just as we were witnessing the beginning of a new mold of Quarterbacks taking shape in the real life NFL. We have the young talent that is struggling to hold his own head level with all of the new found attention surrounding him. We see the super-star athlete become the cocky celebrity. And lastly we see the moral struggle amongst the team doctors. What we have here is a no holds bar and very realistic view of today's sports team. For this, I love the film. I'm not so sure I took much morally away from this film. What I walked away with was an appreciation for the truth. This was the life of a pro football player, and it didn't look too bad.