Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lee Jackson, Lee Thompson Young, Tim McGraw

- Movie reviewed by Vickie, DVD reviewed by Linda

If you love football, and I mean LOOOOOOOOVE football, you’ll likely enjoy Friday Night Lights more than I did. As it stands, I don’t mind football, but I don’t think I have the rabid, all-consuming obsession with the sport that might be required to get the most from this film.

Directed by Peter Berg (Very Bad Things), Lights is the true story of the Permian Panthers, a West Texas high-school football team from the blue-collar town of Odessa, as they pursue the state championship in 1988. Led by Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), the team features assorted players of varying skill levels, from the egomaniacal Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), to the perpetually stressed Mike Winchell (Lucas Black) and fumbly fingered Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) who goes home to his alcoholic, abusive father (Tim McGraw) every night.

Unlike other sports movies about underdog teams vying for a championship of some kind, Lights is more about the maniacal football culture of this small town. It’s all anyone cares about, and their fervent following of every play, every down and every point scored borders on psychotic. These people live, breathe, eat, sleep and poop high-school football, all day, every day of the season. Coach Gaines even has his life threatened as a way of “motivating” him to lead the team to victory. Evidently, the residents of Odessa believe that (in no particular order) beatings, intimidation, bribery and passionate fans will help light the winning fire.

All this is fine and good but, as my friend Tim said to me on the way out of the screening, “So, what’s the point of the movie?” I tried to explain that it’s about life in small-town America, and how people pin all their hopes on things like being gridiron stars because there’s nothing else open to them. He said, “Yeah, but why did they make the movie about this team?” As I rambled on and tried to find an answer, I found myself wondering the same thing.

As far as sports movies go, this one’s fine. But not exceptional. It’s too consciously aware of itself, and how gritty and earnest it’s trying to be, that it forgoes subtlety entirely. There are countless shots of barren landscapes and oil pumps and dilapidated houses. We get it. Odessa is a middle-of-nowhere town with nothing to offer its youth. There are countless clips of on-the-field action, players being pummeled and bloodied and beaten to a pulp. We get it. Football ain’t pretty and these boys willingly put themselves through the wringer in pursuit of their dreams. And the music is so freakin’ LOUD that I wondered if the theater’s sound system was malfunctioning. We get it. Football’s in your FACE, sucker! In smaller amounts, these things would have been fine. Great, even. But they’re so plentiful that they become tiresome.

Though the film may be lacking in its storytelling or execution, it soars thanks to some stellar performances. Thornton reins it in nicely to play a guy whose shoulders bear the weight of the hopes and dreams of everyone in his town. He’s not in it for the glory, he’s in it for the kids. At the other end of the spectrum is McGraw, who unleashes his inner psychopath to create an appropriately frightening figure. And, as far as the boys go, Lucas Black stands out, thanks to his multi-layered performance.

Again, I have a feeling football fanatics will be rapturously off and running with Lights. But, for me, its borderline-obnoxious, testosterone-laden, fairly straightforward story just left me wanting more.

Unlike Vickie, I found that I quite enjoyed Friday Night Lights. I missed it in the theater—or shall I say, I skipped it in the theater. I normally don't rush out to sports movies. But when a free review DVD is thrown my way, well, I'll watch it. When Larry King, of all people, is quoted on the front of the case, saying, "One of the greatest sports movies ever made!"... well, I take his opinion with a grain of salt. But I actually found Friday Night Lights quite enjoyable, less as a sports movie, but more as a slice of success-obsessed American life.

The DVD presentation actually adds a new dimension to the story, fleshing it out into something more than simply a movie. Much emphasis is made in the director and writer commentary about the real kids that the film portrayed, especially Boobie Miles, the star player felled early in the season by a ruined knee. The real Boobie is interviewed present-day in one of the extras, and it is obvious that when he lost the chance to play football, his life was changed in ways that no one could have imagined. Basically he was humbled into becoming an everyday person... the problem was, though, that since 100 percent of his focus was on becoming a college and professional football player, his actual education had slipped through the cracks. The man could barely read.

These kind of real-life stories could potentially have the impact of Hoop Dreams, the excellent high school basketball documentary about kids' unrealistic dreams of earning millions as a sports professional, shattered by not only injury, but reality. I'd hope that kids would get something out of this, or at least learn something.

Though I thought the movie took itself waaaaay seriously (barely a smile was cracked in the entire film), I found the true story to be rather fascinating. I got myself a copy of H.G. Bissinger's book upon which the movie is based... and you know what? When I'm done reading it, I wouldn't be surprised if I want to watch the movie again.

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