piersjessop-599-115174 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.

vraydio I remember full well the early days of Monday Night Football, and this film truly captured the spirit of those time. There were two errors I found annoying.1. The opening music for the first game is not the original theme "The Score", instead it's the modern theme.2. When Keith Jackson asks for his messages from a hotel clerk, the guy asks him about the Bucs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not exist until 1976, long after the first year of Monday Night Football.I thought John Toturro captured the essence of Howard Cossell quite well. Overall, a pleasant way to kill a couple of hours. I watched it instead of the American Idol final.

mentalcritic 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.

Kotter7579 This is a great movie. After seeing it, one doesn't get the sense that it was made for cable (TNT originally aired it.... More than once!) John Tuturro plays Howard Cosell, and does a great job. The only minor issue is that it seems he was too young to portray Cosell, especially by the early '80s when the real Cosell looked quite a bit older. The voice, mannerisms, and dramatizations are worthy of noting as a great performance. Eli Wallach and John Heard were the best in this film. They were cast perfectly. Portrayals of Meredith and Gifford weren't bad. The man playing Pete Rozelle was adequate, but not memorable. It did a great job telling the story of how MNF was born. Roone Alredge from ABC truly revolutionized the game by adding flare, more cameras, more angles, and the three-man booth. One problem is that film lacks real game footage that was true to the era (1970-85). There seem to be re-creations of the games and their moments, and the uniforms are a bit "off" during some of the game highlights. (For example, take a close look at the Joe Namath shot. That's not the original shot of him. I don't think it's him at all.) Also, there are a few moments that were supposed to be taking place in the 1970s but some of the extras looked too present-era to pull this off. Overall, an excellent film. Football fans should definitely see this. MNF is still one of the greatest additions to the field of sports and entertainment.