Monday Night Mayhem (2002)

This movie is a pretty good one. I was surprised. It told a story Howard Cosell and his time spent inside the broadcast booth on the new live television show Monday Night Football. It gave an inside glance to the network cat-fighting and some inside the booth drama. The movie kept me glued to the television as I wanted to see what Mr. Cosell experienced during his time at the station. This is supposed to be a true story. If so, there are some pretty crazy things that took place way up there in the glass cage. Howard Cosell went through a lot during his time working for Monday Night Football and this movie, Monday Night Mayhem, exposes much of it.

Not having seen a full game of American Football in my life, I'm not going to comment on how accurate or authentic this TV-movie is. Instead, I am going to comment on how engrossing or entertaining it is. Or rather, it isn't. One of the fundamental problems with this production is how little it has to distinguish itself. The video cover and the title go a long way to imply that it is a warts and all look at one of professional sports' most innovative eras.The problem is that it is anything but. If it had been expanded just a little and instead focused on Cosell, maybe it would have worked. Unfortunately, anyone who has anything to do with Monday Night Football gets their five-minute snippets. And it comes at the expense of any depth or meaning.Before the show begins, all I knew about Cosell was that he was some jerk who at least partly deserved all the hate mail and death threats he got. After the credits rolled, I didn't feel any different. Those who took up the commentary box with him come off much, much worse. The only things I knew about Frank Gifford before this show was that he was married to some talentless diva called Kathy-Lee. That's all I really knew about him after the credits rolled. The man they hired to play O.J. Simpson didn't even look anything like him. The Spinal-Tap-style captions to let the viewer know who is who don't come frequently enough to make a difference, either.John Turturro's performance as Cosell brings raging questions to mind. If the performance is accurate, then I have to commend Turturro for having the nerve to portray such an unlikeable character. If it isn't, then one has to wonder where the idea to play the man like this came from. That nasal voice, that shark-like sneer, it all makes for a very shaky sympathetic focus.The real problem, however, is that all the backstage antics one expects from a story about a live show that began in the 1960s are nowhere to be seen. The attempt to appeal to a general television audience, and all that entails, keeps this show from getting interesting. If it wasn't for the curiosity factor, I'd be giving Monday Night Mayhem a one out of ten. As it is, a two should really indicate how little of its potential this collection of "I'm here, where's my paycheck?" performances realises.

This was one of biggest wastes of 2 hours. I felt the film was poorly acted. My biggest problem was some of the inaccuracy of some of the games that were featured the wrong teams. I realize that I am big football fan, but how hard is it for the writers to do a little research on the games and particular teams involved that were played in the history of Monday Night Football?

A candid behind-the-scenes look at Monday Night Football from its infancy, "Mayhem" exploits the trials and tribulations of what has become an institution for NFL fans the world over. Being a football fan, if you take this movie at face value like I did, you can appreciate what the viewer doesn't see. This movie delves into the conflicts between on-air and off-air personalities well beyond what you may have read in the newspapers. However, as a movie fan, I was disappointed at the overall acting. Although a finely written script, I had to do my best to drown out John Turturro's poor imitation of Howard Cosell, to appreciate the unparalleled verbiage that only Cosell could provide. Same is true for those imitating Frank Gifford, Keith Jackson and "Dandy" Don Meredith. All in all, I gave this movie 7 stars.