Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 09/10/2002
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Just as
Jon Voight's on-target portrayal of controversial sportscaster
Howard Cosell) in the 2002 biopic
Ali was making the theatrical rounds, actor
John Turturro offered his own spin on "Humble Howard" in the made-for-cable movie
Monday Night Mayhem. Based on the book by
Bill Carter and
Marc Gunther, the film chronicles the creation of
ABC Television's
Monday Night Football telecast in 1970, then continues with the weekly telecast's rapid ascent to the top of the ratings. Reasoning that such a momentous undertaking needed a spectacular "star" lineup in the announcing booth,
ABC's aggressive sports director Roone Arledge (
John Heard) teams the highly opinionated, irritatingly erudite Cosell with not one but two charismatic ex-athletes, "Dandy Don" Meredith (
Brad Beyer) and Frank Gifford (
Kevin Anderson). The film makes much of Cosell's open disdain towards his "intellectually inferior" co-anchors and of Meredith and Gifford's reaction to their booth-mate's jibes, and also recreates many of
Monday Night Football's highlights, notably Cosell's announcement in the middle of an important game that
John Lennon has just been murdered.
Monday Night Mayhem originally aired on January 14, 2002, not on
ABC (surprise, surprise!) but as part of the
TNT cable network's prime time lineup.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cart 0 items
