Foremost is the ongoing battle between the traditional head coach and new owner Christina Pagniacci (venomous Cameron Diaz). She's the daughter of the late, former owner, who eschews her father's team-friendly attitude with a more direct, win-at-all-costs approach.

Shouting matches between Pacino and Diaz (and there are a lot of them) bristle with an amusing, intelligent fervor. In our modern sports world, where winning and gratification are nearly taken for granted, Stone and screenwriter John Logan ask some valid questions. What is the balance between tradition and change? What is the price of winning? What should athletes be allowed to do to pursue their dreams?

One of the strengths of the film is its depiction of the relationship between coaches and players. Pacino and Foxx share a credible chemistry, and the script allows their characters to question each other's motives. The coach values how the game is played as well as the ultimate outcome, but he still needs a star quarterback to win. The athlete does his job, but he knows his time is limited, and the game is his means of making a living.

As usual, Stone masterfully weaves several layers and narratives together into a cohesive whole....

Although professional football provides the action-packed backdrop of “Any Given Sunday,” the film takes a simultaneously epic and intimate look at a cross-section of contemporary Americans, including the modern-day gladiators of the gridiron, their coaches and often-beleaguered families, the moneyed team owners and corporations attempting to control the game as big business, the hungry sports media, and the hangers-on trying to get a taste of the glamour.

Oliver Stone assembled a huge ensemble of players to portray the characters inhabiting this dramatic, profane, and often humorous universe: players, coaches, management, agents, sports writers, announcers, media figures, team doctors, politicians and party girls.