FINALLY, A DECENT FOOTBALL MOVIE

By: B -- 10/14/04

We all knew Friday Night Lights was going to live or die by the almighty Sports Formula. You know the one: a team with infinite potential has to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to succeed. Whether they win (Varsity Blues) or lose (The Bad News Bears), the important lesson is that they stuck together, learned the value of teamwork, yada yada yada. Though it abides by this played-out recipe, Friday Night Lights is actually an admirable tribute to high school sports.

Based on the bestselling book of the same name, Friday Night Lights tells the true story of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas. In 1988, the Permian Panthers battled team injuries, family problems and immense pressure from the community as they made a run for the state title. Directed by Peter Berg, Friday Night Lights also documents the personal lives of the coach (Billy Bob Thornton) and a few senior standouts.

Berg adeptly chose to focus on the personal lives of a select few players. Sports films that don’t accurately build character development usually have trouble showing the audience who the main characters are. In the first ten minutes of Friday Night Lights we know who to care about, which minimizes confusion and maximizes empathy. Because of this choice, Berg could weave the personal stories into the film without compromising its focus.

Friday Night Lights is an old school story with the camera work of a music video. Common scenes like a dinner party and a high school bash were shot with off-kilter camera angles and an excess of close-ups. The football scenes were even more dizzying. The best scenes in sports occur with a wide-angle lens, but this rarely happens in Friday Night Lights. The close-ups and super fast camera movements during the games were distracting to say the least. It’s difficult to follow the action when your equilibrium is constantly being challenged. The script and plot are straight up, but Berg chooses style over substance with the camera work.

Since the movie takes place in 1988, the fashion choices make for some cheap laughs. Members Only jackets, mullets, high-tops, gold chains; the passing shots of the fashion trends make for a humorous sidebar. However, it’s difficult to feel sympathy for an abused kid when he’s wearing acid-washed jeans, so I guess it works both ways.

While walking out of the theater, all I could think about was my own high school sports experience. Friday Night Lights truly captured the passion felt by high school athletes, and this was the first time I fully realized how much I miss that feeling. In high school, sports mean everything. Playing with your best friends in front of the hometown crowd; Berg obviously understands the obsessive nature of high school athletics. Whereas Varsity Blues was essentially a sexed-up music video (one of the most ridiculous, clichéd movies in history by the way), and Remember the Titans portrayed a high school usually seen in after-school specials, Friday Night Lights accurately shows the tension and pressure without turning the entire thing into a circus. Though it was rather predictable, the story and character development make Friday Night Lights a winner.

POP RATING: 8

CRITICAL RATING: 7

B'S RATING: 7.5

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