Any Given Sunday

Oliver Stone assembled the screenplay from three separate scripts. The Writers Guild gave screenplay credit to John Logan and Stone and story credit to Daniel Pyne and Logan; Jamie Williams, a former NFL player who wrote the earliest version, and sportswriter Richard Weiner ended up credited as technical consultants, not writers. The material about injuries being waved away on the sideline comes from a team doctor’s 1994 book, and the first diagnosis James Woods delivers repeats that book’s title. Refused real logos and stadiums, Stone invented a league; the Sharks play at the Miami Orange Bowl, the ground the Dolphins left after the 1986 season. Crowds were made by moving extras from local schools between sections, with cardboard figures placed in empty seats and balloons tied on so they would seem to stir. Rival head coaches are played by 5 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sean Combs was signed for Willie Beamen before the part went to Jamie Foxx. In 2000 the film competed for the Golden Bear at the 50th Berlin film festival, where Magnolia won. A good fit if you want the field delivered through cutting and overlapping sound, and the sport treated as a medical and financial system. Not for anyone troubled by injuries and sideline treatment; that is where the script starts.