Not great animation, but compelling with moments of splendor. The story is told in flashback with the players more than 20 years older than when events took place. That gives the film a kind of depth it might not have had otherwise. Was it real or was it a bad dream? It was both.
I actually really liked the animation. It was fairly simple, but extremely effective. Certainly don't go see it for ground-breaking techniques in animation. However, the use of animation (for example, for subtle scene changes as memory becomes more real than reality) was fantastic.
It's a sad indictment of the Oscars that they nominated crap like Kung Fu Panda and Bolt over this film for Best Animated feature.