Friday Night Lights (2004)

Sports films are an interesting breed. It’s hard to rate a film involving a sport you know very little about. While the action may look impressive to the casual viewer, an expert on that sport could point out a thousand inaccuracies that you might otherwise overlook. Fortunately for me, Friday Night Lights comes with a reputation for being pretty accurate in its portrayal of American football. With that in mind, I was able to examine the emotional aspects and human drama inherent in the story. I’m happy to report that this is a solid all-around film.

Friday Night Lights tells the story of the 1988 season of the Odessa-Permian High School football team. It was adapted from a book of the same name written by a man who had followed the team for several years. The gritty, no-holds-barred story infuriated many of the town’s residents, accusing the author of portraying the repressed Texas town as dysfunctional, bigoted and unhealthily obsessed with their high school football team.

Whether or not the town’s portrayal is a fair one, this film immediately launches you into a sports world rarely explored in cinema. It’s difficult to think of another sports film that so unapologetically immerses you into the dark world of adults living vicariously through the successes of young athletes. It’s bad enough when parents fall into this trap, but for a whole town to demand so much out of emotionally fragile youth is truly despicable.

The players aren’t the only ones who feel the heat. Billy Bob Thornton plays the team’s coach. He is a man who knows full well what is expected of him and his talented team. It’s a lot of pressure for one man to take without being constantly reminded of it and yet he is reminded of it every day by virtually every person he meets. For four or five months a year, he might as well be mayor, seeing as he carries the team and the team, in turn, carries the town. Oh, the anxiety!

The only downside to the film is that it doesn’t break away from the sport enough. We see plenty of on-field turmoil, the pressure these kids take from their parents and the adoration they receive from their classmates, but there is little or no focus on their life at school- academics, social lives away from the team, etc. This was probably done because the book was written about the season and provides limited information about the players’ lives. Also, the film is shot in such a way that you are kind of a silent observer, as if you’re one of the townsfolk, and they certainly don’t give a damn how these kids do at school or outside of football. All they care about is the thrill and excitement to feel good about something in their life for one night a week.

Friday Night Lights features some sharp acting from many relative unknowns in Hollywood. The young actors really bring the players to life- the nerve-wracked quarterback trying to be a leader, the mouthy hot-shot running back who is being sought after by dozens of colleges, and several under the radar players who make up the heart and soul of the team. There is also an inspired performance by Tim McGraw as an alcoholic former state champion whose son doesn’t quite have the skills on the field his father once did.

In 2006, NBC created a television series based loosely off of the book and film which covers more of the emotional side of being a teenager growing up in such a situation. For what it’s worth, the film would have felt slow and bogged down had the filmmakers attempted to include the extra baggage. Instead, the end result is a roller coaster of a film that knows its focus and never wavers from it.

Highs and lows abound, making Friday Night Lights a powerful, unique and serious look at sports typically approached in dark comedies or outright parodies.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5