Monday Night Mayhem

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).

This was a great movie!! I didn't expect to like it, but the actors were so dead on in their performances, it was impossible to resist. I rarely watch football anymore, largely because there is no show with the chemistry of the original Monday Night Football lineup. A lot of ink was given to incredible acting displayed by John Turturro as Howard Cosell, but in my opinion, Brad Beyer was even better as Don Meredith. Who likeable enough as a sportscaster, always seemed two dimensional until Beyers performance.

This has got to be John Turturro's best role so far. He was actually believable as Cosell. It shows how Cosell made Monday Night football as much as everyone hated him. I remember some of those games and comments. He was always a guy full of surprise comments and an articulate verbal arsenal. They made Frank Gifford look really stupid in this movie. I also think they made a big mistake when they did not resign Cosell. They left out the famous speech between Cosell and Meredith. This is a must see for any Monday Night football fan. 8/10

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.

This was my time. I was 11 years old when the Monday Night Football thing got rolling. I probably watched as many games through the 70's as the guy in the movie who converted his garage into a Monday night football sanctuary.

I was a Cosell hater who often listened to music on the stereo while watching games. But I also defended him against the ridiculous racism charges (well presented in the film). He had a runaway mouth and an ego the size of John Madden's stomach, but he was colorblind in the truest sense.

The fact is that the movie was a pretty good show. The historical accuracy was a bit lacking (e.g. the theme song of the "first" game was actually not used until the 80's. I was disappointed that the catchy original tune was not featured. I Love Lucy was also long gone by the late 1960's.). But John Turturo played a mean Howard. His performance made up for the lightweight, almost parodied emoting of Brad Beyer and Chad Coleman. Kevin Anderson's Gifford passed muster, but what a shame we didn't get more of Shuler Hensley's brilliant Keith Jackson. I guess that was ultimately Roone Arledge's fault (nicely played by John Heard).

As far as TNT offerings are concerned, place this movie a (distant) second place to Pirates of Silicon Valley. Not too bad, really.