Friday Night Lights

Released 2004
Stars Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lee Jackson, Lee Thomspson Young, Tim McGraw
Directed by Peter Berg

If you go to this movie based solely on how it is being portrayed in the trailers and advertisements, you will probably be expecting a feel-good romp through familiar territory - a football version of Hoosiers. Likee nearly all sports movies, Friday Night Lights is about redemption; however, instead of wallowing in clichés, Peter Berg's film uses them sparingly. This movie is less about what happens on the field than in the hearts of the players. And, while it is ultimately an emotionally fulfilling experience, it doesn't hide the ugliness in an effort to lionize the characters.

Team bonding The story, which is based on true events as related in Buzz Bissinger's best-selling book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, follows the 1988 football season of the Odessa-Permian Panthers, one of the elite high school clubs of West Texas. This is die-hard football country, where stores close so everyone in town can attend the game. Sunday morning is for church. Friday night is for football. There are hopes for an undefeated season. The state championship is almost a given. With a player as talented as James "Boobie" Miles (Derek Luke), the concept of a loss is inconceivable - until Boobie goes down with a severe knee injury in the first game. Suddenly, his supporting cast, including quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black) and running backs Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) and Chris Comer (Lee Thompson Young) must step up. The team's coach, Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), alternately endures the bile and the praise of the town. When the Panthers are winning, he can do no wrong. But when the Panthers are losing, he is persona non grata.

Summary by James Berardinelli

This is a really good high school sports movie, but the problem is I'm not really interested in high school sports movies. I watched it because I thought it was going to focus more on the pressure placed on the coach and kids to win at all costs. It did that to some degree, but it gave at least equal time to the standard sports arc of the team fighting through diversity to reach the final play of the championship game. To the film's credit, though, the football scenes are outstanding. They're immediate and exciting, but, really, they're just a better version of what we've seen before. The more interesting stuff was about how football is a religion in Texas, and too many people define their lives by it. I expected the movie to spend most of its time on that, so I was disappointed. However, if you haven't seen many high school sports movies or can't get enough of them, this is a really good one. --Bill Alward, January 24, 2005