Review of Friday Night Lights (2004) by Kaleb P — 24 Sep 2014

I have read the book Friday Night Lights, and watched the movie countless times and believe the producers and directors of this film did an amazing job. The way the plot of this movie is carried out is incredible. The movie flowed smoothly and they showed everything that actually happens ?behind the scenes? during a high school football season. I played high school football and was able to experience the thrill of playing under those Friday night lights. I was also subjected to all the stress and pressures there are from being a high school football player. After reading the book and from my own experiences, this movie did a really good job of capturing how it feels to play under those Friday night lights.

Friday Night Lights is a movie that follows the Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, Texas. Expectations are high as they try to keep the tradition of their winning ways alive in hopes of winning a state championship. Everything is bigger in Texas, especially football, and the Permian Panthers are known for winning. The town of Odessa thrives on football and there is nothing they love more than watching their Permian Panthers win.

The plot of this film was carried out very nicely due in large part to all the great acting! Billy Bob Thorton did an amazing job portraying the head coach Gary Gaines. He showed through body and face gestures how stressful being the head coach of a high school football team can be, especially in Texas. Another actor that did a fantastic job was country singer Tim McGraw. He had the difficult task of portraying Charles Billingsley, a drunken father of a current football player who can?t stop reliving his glory days as an Odessa football player. I was also pleased with the acting of all the football players, for the most part this was all of their first films. In particular I was very impressed with actor Derek Luke. He was faced with the strenuous task of playing Boobie Miles, the big mouth, cocky star of the team who has high aspirations of playing big time college football.

The one thing I dislike about this movie was how unrealistic the football game scenes are. There were players flying through the air after getting hit and other players juking and dodging opponents like it was a video game. Besides the unrealistic football scenes the production of this film was top notch. The state championship halftime scene was put together very nicely. They cut back and forth from what was happening in each team?s locker room and it all flowed really smoothly. Another scene that is really cool was the coin flip scene. Three coaches are flipping coins to see who goes to the playoffs and right when they flip their coins the screen pauses for a split second. All you can hear and see is cameras flashing and coins pattering against the ground.

There is much to like about this movie! The acting is impeccable, the soundtrack is award winning in my perspective, and it is based off a true story so everything you see actually happened. This movie is not just about sports, it is about life and some of the struggles we face while growing up. If you are a sports fan and you have not seen this movie yet, I would definitely check it out. But I also do not believe you have to be a sports fan to enjoy this film.