Friday Night Lights  (2004)

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg

Rating: PG-13

Distributor: Universal Studios

Release Date: 10.08.04

Review Posted: 10.08.04

Spoilers: Minor

By Rachel Sexton

True Life Sports Drama Delivers Both Thrillingly

Sports dramas as a genre are far from my first choice as a moviegoer. The conflicts are usually a bit silly and the team always wins. Football in particular with its strictly American violence has never truly appealed to me, onscreen or in life. 2004 is proving to be a good year for this genre though, with the worthy Miracle beginning the year and now this standout production. Strong source material adapted with appropriate direction and an excellent cast led by Billy Bob Thornton make Friday Night Lights a quality film.

Friday Night Lights tells of the pressure-packed 1988 season of the Odessa, Texas high school football team, the Panthers, coached by Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton). The many teammates, including Chavez (Jay Hernandez) and Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), band together when the star player, played by Derek Luke, is injured and the coach faces tough community expectations to win.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book of the same name by H.G. Bissinger, this film is given extra heft from its real-life source. Peter Berg’s direction takes a cue from this, as he uses filming techniques, mostly treated film stocks, to achieve a more documentary feel than the average movie. More than that, the script is adept at pacing the gridiron battles between the personal dramas in the player’s lives. Winchell (Black), the quarterback, has an ailing mother and Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) has a past-champion dad who drinks and abuses him. These scenes just impact emotionally in a way not a lot of other sports dramas do; its all utterly real. What’s more, though I don’t want to give anything away, the ending is unforgettable. My one qualm: at the climactic moment in the final game, it takes a second to figure out exactly what happened. Even the titles used in the film, used to indicate game date and opponent and, work. Especially the use of the sports bracket graphics to condense the team’s progression through the playoffs. The requisite ending titles telling the audience what happened to each person even feel right on target.

Director Berg has improved in each of his films. His last, The Rundown, was solidly entertaining action-comedy. With Lights, he’s become more comfortable with injecting some of his own modulated style into the production. I guess the fact that his cousin actually wrote the book the film is based on was a motivator. He crafts some good editing here, too, and the cinematography captivates. I never thought I’d say that about a sports movie.

Thornton leads the cast and he has always managed to disappear into his characters. Here, he’s a normal man who’s firm, talented coach but fallible, too. Luke is great, a quintessential spotlight-grabber who must face the end of his dream. Black, seen in Thornton’s Sling Blade and All the Pretty Horses, suddenly seems to have hit manhood with even more talent than before. He’s excellent and will probably be, with his twang, Thornton’s streamlined and more handsome successor. The final shot of his smile just works. Plus, would you believe the drunk, abusive father of Billingsley is country crooner Tim McGraw? He’s surprisingly, scarily good.

Friday Night Lights is that rare mainstream Hollywood sports drama that truly affects through not only story but direction and acting. Those Odessa Panthers will stay in our memories and cheers well after the film is over. If future sports films are like this one, I may have to see more. I don’t think I’ll ever watch the Super Bowl for anything but the commercials, though.

Film Rating: êêêê1/2  (out of 5)

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