Any Given Sunday; Oliver Stone's salute-cum-expos? of pro football; belabors some pretty obvious points for nigh onto three hours; but between the frenetic editing; the pounding rap-music beats; and several flashy performances; it's certainly never dull. Al Pacino; coach of the fictional Miami Sharks (the NFL declined involvement in this production); struggles with the most time-honored of sports movie dilemmas: what to do with the old friend who's past his prime and the young hotshot who could save the franchise but first has to learn what being a team player is all about. Comedian Jamie Foxx does a marvelous dramatic turn as the rookie quarterback whose ego and talent are equally impressive; while Pacino seems more at ease in Oliver Stone Land than any actor since regular James Woods (on hand as well as a sleazy team doctor). Prowling the sidelines; shouting spittle-flecked orders; seizing up in almost physical pain when a play goes the wrong way; Pacino is as unashamedly--and entertainingly--hyperbolic as Stone's whirling montages of boiling storm clouds; bloodthirsty fans; and players smashed into the mud. (Once again football; perhaps the most sophisticated of team sports; is viewed cinematically as a bunch of guys hitting each other in slow motion.) Unfortunately; all the self-conscious mythologizing and pumped-up macho posturing that Stone can muster doesn't conceal a clich?d; slapped-together script; whose few good ideas (mostly about race in America) jostle about with several hoary; terrible ones--including a too-literal analogy of football players as modern gladiators. (To drive the point home; Stone includes Charlton Heston--the aging Ben-Hur--in one of many star-powered cameos.) All in all; Any Given Sunday is never dull; but never very enjoyable; either. --Bruce Reid