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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (2004) (***1/2)

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This film is the best film I’ve ever seen about high school football. Actually it's the best film I've seen about football period. It’s also a close second to HOOSIERS for the best high school sports movie as well. That's a lot of praise for a film in a genre that has a very strict plot structure. But what makes Peter Berg's film so good is how it uses the conventions of the genre to build tension and then u surprise us, making us re-think the nature of competition in general.

Billy Bob Thornton (BAD SANTA) plays Gary Gaines, head coach of the Permian High School Panthers football team in Texas. Based on a true story, the film chronicles how football is all that some small towns in the South live for. The film focuses on Gaines as well as three of the team’s key players – quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black, SLING BLADE), running back Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund, TROY) and running back Boobie Miles (Derek Luke, ANTWONE FISHER).

Winchell is a quiet young man who has a pessimistic outlook on life due to his mother’s (Connie Cooper, A PERFECT WORLD) mental problems. Billingsley is under constant pressure from his father, Charles (Tim McGraw, BLACK CLOWD), who was a star player who led their team to States when he was in high school and has been living on that glory ever since. Miles is the super star of the team who has major colleges clamoring at his door. Other players who play key roles include defensive player and star student Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez, CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL), angry and quiet defensive player Ivory Christian (Lee Jackson, film debut) and underclassmen running back Chris Comer (Lee Thompson Young, TV’s JETT JACKSON).

The film deals with the bumpy road the team takes to the State Championships. The story deals with injuries and being out sized, but more so deals with the pressure of the community. Fair weather fans would be kind. For each win the players and coaches can do no wrong, but a loss might get them run out of town.

The film shows how the various players, their families and Coach Gaines deal with the fame. A fitting statement to this is what Winchell says – I don’t feel like I’m 17. So much rides on the game for these players and the film truly captures the emotions. The film doesn’t try to heighten the drama and just tells the story straight. The film is sad and inspiring at the same time. It’s one of the best films of 2004.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks