Monday Night Mayhem

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.

Monday Night Mayhem is a great movie with Turturro's best performance yet. But my enjoyment of it on Dubai One TV last week was not helped by the censorship of the sequence detailing the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics by Palastinian terrorists. Sequences in the film are flagged in advance by titles reading, for example, 'Clay v Liston', or 'Superbowl 1959'. The title announcing 'Munich Olympic Games' appeared, but instead of showing Howard Cosell's reporting of the tragic events which occurred, we found ourselves back in New York and on to other events in Cosell's life. Had it not been for the incompetence of whoever made the cut in leaving in the title, I would have been unaware of this censorship. Are TV companies purchasing broadcasting rights to movies allowed to censor them in this way? Piers Jessop.

An entertaining behind the scenes look at Monday Night Football from it's inception to the departure of Howard Cosell.

The movie is extremely friendly to Cosell, and is based mostly upon him, and Roone Arlidge. Not much dirty laundry is aired during this movie....Of course there are the well known incidents such as Cosell getting drunk and vomiting on Meredith's boots, Chet Forte's gambling, the clashing of egos in the broadcast booth, and the little monkey comment that caused so much furor.

John Turturro as Cosell seemed to be a stretch. I felt Turturro was a little over the top in his portrayal, but not so much it was annoying.

John Turturro's portrayal of Howard Cosell in this film is so absolutely perfect that it has Emmy written all over it. While this movie (based on a book of the same name) is more than just a Howard biopic, Turturro really shines as America's most beloved and most hated sports broadcaster. He has the many mannerisms of Cosell down pat, down to the nasal voice that was both inimitable and grating. His narration of MNF's halftime highlights is particularly inspired.

Nicholas Turturro, John's brother, also stands out as Chet Forte, the gambling, womanizing MNF director, as does John Heard as Roone Arledge, the brains behind MNF and ABC Sports for so many years. The only downer is Brad Beyer's performance as Dandy Don Meredith. Nothing against Brad, but he was the wrong pick for this role. His baby face and forced Texas accent make me wish they had cast someone with a genuine Lone Star State drawl (Beyer is from Wisconsin).

I'm 35 years old and the Cosell years on Monday Night Football bring me back to an age when football was the most exciting thing in my life. Although John T. overplayed Cosell's character, this movie kept my interest throughout the length of the film. Maybe it's my age, but this movie brought back memories of the famous 'monkey incident', the O.J. years as well as many other exciting events of the Cosell Monday Night Football years. I would highly recommend this movie for anyone looking for a very interesting and well documented account of Monday Night Football and the infamous Cosell.