Friday Night Lights

And on a Saturday no less.

I'm a sucker for sports movies, so my opinion is always slightly biased. I tend to enjoy even the worst of them (Major League 3 anyone?). But, movies about football don't always work for me (The Program, Any Given Sunday, parts of Varsity Blues, that Keanu Reeves movie, all prime examples), mainly because I LOVE the sport so damn much that I hate to see anyone try to interprit it. No, it's not pure, not by any means, but I don't think it needs to be tainted any more than it already is. So, yeah, football movies never really get me pumped. Sadly, this one's no exception.

I will say this, it's a very honest movie, I lived in a small town briefly, I've seen the way these kids get driven, and it's very brutal. That's pretty much the extent of what the film has going for it. The performances are somewhat solid, most notably that of country singer Tim McGraw. In his brief scenes he all but steals the movie. The lack of character development is sad, there's not a lot of insight to the motivation of these kids, we don't really understand why some of them are intent on putting themselves through all of this, which would have gone a long way in the finished film.

Overall it's a good movie, worth a rental for sports entusiasts or Billy Bob fans. Definitely one of the better sports films to come along recently (it doesn't touch Miracle, but what can?).

-L