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Friday Night Lights (2004)

Our Score: 3/10
IMDb Score: 3/10

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Summary: Hope comes alive on Friday nights

 

Well, I'm not from Texas, or play football, or really particularly love
football. Hell, I barely like it. When i went to see this movie, I
didn't even know it was a movie about football. But, honestly, this
allows me to be the most unbiased type of critic. I went in with a
totally open mind.

Friday Night Lights was to me was lifting the magnifying glass, not
only a small and backward town, that put winning above winners.
Aggrandizing the image over the substance, but about ourselves. It took
me under football's skin, to the blood, sweat, and tears, in a real
way. I felt the pressure, I felt the hits, the uncertainty, the fragile
youth, that comes and goes so fast. And I was moved.

I think at one point, we become anesthetized by Hollywood. And we start
to keep predisposed outcomes -- but that's not reality. Reality is, the
kids who tried, and failed, and yet, didn't fail at all. Because they
learned a deeper truth. We see that when the QB smiles at the end,
something he never does.

Because they grow, we are inspired. Enlightenment is contagious. I
cried, I laughed - one scene the two other head coaches, who tend to
stalk BBT around town, hounding him about winning State - threatens not
so subtly, the coach before driving away. The daughter then says, "Are
we going to move again?" Mom says, "No, baby." And immediately after,
in a matter-of-fact manner Billy Bob says, "It's possible..." I laughed
out loud at that. I never expected to see such a myriad of emotional
layers opened up. The sociology, mentality, reality, of this film was
beautifully depicted with gracious character development, that was all
too realistic. Remember the comment on the Odessa radio station after
the game when the guy suggested that they lost because they are in
school learning too much. The fact of the matter is very few athletes
go on to play in college and graduate and a fraction of them go on to
play professionally, and a fraction of them make a good living out of
it. Odessa put football on a higher pedestal than education and the
town and all its residents suffer. Fact is perfect is different things
to different people, and this is a perfect story.

I believe every scene was necessary in developing the main characters
and the story being told.