I’m watching Thursday Night Football tonight and they’re advertising the new movie where Nicolas Cage plays the legendary Raiders coach and television broadcaster, John Madden. It’s directed by David O. Russell, and Christian Bale portrays the iconic Oakland Raiders owner, Al Davis. Are y’all looking forward to this film? I personally am interested in just about anything starring Cage!
I share the trailer below. Check it out!
Nicolas Cage looks and sounds absolutely nothing like John Madden. Another problem is that even though Madden was a media icon, his life wasn’t controversial.
If anyone from the Raiders, Cage should have been cast as Al Davis. Looking a Cage these days, you could put him in a Raiders jacket and sunglasses, he’d be a convincing Al Davis.
Then you’d have the controversy: Al Davis as one of the driving forces behind the American Football League (the rival to the National Football League in the 1960s), plus there was his feud with NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, the relocation of the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles–it would make for a very interesting movie. Come to think of it, one could derive an entire series from Davis.
One more thing to mention: John Madden was an excellent coach, no question, but to call him a genius (as stated in the preview) is a real stretch. People forget that prior to Madden becoming the head coach of the Raiders 1969, another John, John Rauch, compiled a 79.8 regular season winning percentage (if you count a tie as half a win) and guided the Raiders to three consecutive AFL Championship Game appearances, plus Rauch coached the Raiders in Super Bowl II. After Madden retired, Tom Flores coached the Raiders to two Super Bowls victories. It’s not like Madden inherited a dreadful team, nor did the team collapse once Madden left.
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We were at a Mötley Crüe concert last night so we didn’t watch the game. This looks interesting, though, especially with Cage playing John Madden. It’s in My Watchlist.
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