Monday Night Mayhem (2002)
The early years of a television sports powerhouse are chronicled as ABC becomes a player in the NFL coverage by putting their full resources into a major showcase. Executive Roone Arledge (John Heard) recruits former Dallas Cowboys quarterback 'Dandy' Don Meredith (Brad Beyer), along with Keith Jackson (Shuler Hensley), and the combative Howard Cosell (John Turturro) as commentators for the broadcasts, which become funny, odd trio events to millions of viewers. Jackson departs the show after the first year to take over the network's focus on college football, and former New York Giants star Frank Gifford (Kevin Anderson) takes his place, ruffling Cosell's feathers. Then things get really crazy!
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Pretty Good
How sad is this?
Fresh and Exciting
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
So many memories came flooding back for me while watching this, the nostalgic aspect was worth it right there. From most of 1970 until Meredith left, my buddies and I were fixated in front of the TV on Monday nights. It was an institution, and we always talked about the game and Howard the next day. No one could ever begin to capture what Howard Cosell was all about, but Turturro does one heck of a good job. Heard does an equally good job of capturing Arledge, and everything else just falls into place. While we were watching the broadcasts, no one had a clue as to what was really going on, but there were clues that everything wasn't as it seemed. This movie really brought the inside to the outside. I closed my eyes during the halftime highlight segment, and by jobe, I could actually hear Cosell doing the bit, especially the pronunciation of Jim Lash. But perhaps the best scene of the entire movie was Cosell announcing to the world that John Lennon had been killed. When he originally did it back in 1980, Cosell brought me to tears, and Turturro's imitation of that moment has the same effect. If you remember those halcyon days of MNF, then this is the holy grail for the fans. Nothiong will ever come close to the real deal, but this movie gives anyone who is interested a little peek, and that is telling it like it is.
The presentation was a little cheesy but all in all a strong movie. Turturro was great. I saw some criticism in previous reviews from people who fail to realize that this is ACTING not imitating. You don't need to get the look/speech perfect to play a real-life figure. Turturro seemed to capture what Cosell was all about and that's the point. Actors act, if you want to see imitating go to a Rich Little show.
Fans of MNF will absolutely love this movie. Fence-stradlers will enjoy it and anti-football fanatics will relish the opportunity to say, "See, I told you they were idiots!" A behind the scenes look at ABC's Monday Night Football, "Monday Night Mayhem" included all the 'well-known' hijinx plus some more obscure shenanigans. Focusing on Howard Cosell (portrayed with grit and depth by John Turturro) and his relationship with producer Roone Arledge, the movie pulls few punches. It doesn't flinch on most incidents, including alleged racism, the infamous 'bird', booze in the booth, gambling and groupies. Best of all are the collage sequences featuring some good tunes and classic commercials from the era. As a child of the 70s, it was nostalgia overload. There are some excellent performances and some lackluster parts but overall it succeeds. I give it a 7/10: solid.
I have been watching Monday Night Football for over 25 years and didnt quite realize the turmoil of the behind-the-scenes. Great dialogue and information came out of this movie for me. Kudos to John Heard and to the Turturro Brothers, they all made this movie very enjoyable to watch. I would suggest this to anyone who enjoys the "spectacle" of Monday Night Football.