After seeing the previews for "Friday Night Lights" I was a little turned off by the boast that it was one of the best sports movies ever. Could it possibly beat "Only the Strong", the definitive Capoeira movie of our generation? *wink*

But it was the only thing to watch on a Friday night, so we headed out to see it.

Did it live up to the hype?

Hmm...Yes and no.

It's not the best sports movie ever. But it's pretty damn close.

Watching the movie brought deep feelings of nostalgia to me, for two reasons.

My freshman year of highschool, our football team went to the state finals. It was really a surreal experience, riding on the bus, going to Normal, IL to watch our team play. It was so awesome to go out there and cheer our guys on. And before you say, "Christine, you went to an all girls' school, what the hell are you talking about?" Remember, I was in band with boys from our brother school, so we would play at all the football games.

But the movie also brought strong memories of my years of actually playing football. You may not know that, but football is my favorite sport to play. In college, we would play in Ricebowl. Ricebowl was an annual tournament of all the Asian clubs in the Chicagoland area - including us all the way down in Champaign-Urbana. I started out as a wide reciever, moved up to a running back, split the quarterback duties, and later on did some linebacking and defensive line. Running back was my favorite. And there is only one feeling that is better than the incredible high you get when you score a touchdown - it's winning the championship. "Friday Night Lights" made me long for those days. Running a fake and knowing that the defense is going for you, even though you don't have the ball, and seeing the surprise in their eyes when they realize it. Giving a block that knocks someone on their ass. Throwing a pass and connecting with your reciever. Checking out the other team and seeing that they've got a 6'1" chick that's at least 225lbs with "Bonecrusher" on her jersey and knowing that smarts, speed and agility can beat size any day. That feeling of running down the field, knowing that no one was close enough to touch you and that a touchdown was right in your grasp. To have your teammates come up and pile on a scream in joy. Not only did I miss actually playing, but I missed everything associated to it - doing drills in practice, taking a knee before a game and saying a prayer, our warmup circle, in the huddle and doing our cocky little countdowns, and of course, the pep rallies. Here's a pic from the year after we won the championship. Maybe if someone could let me copy their videos of it *cough*angelo*cough* then I could post it up here.

I'm on the bottom row, 6th from the left, kinda hiding

But yeah, I digress. But not really. Because a lot of these aspects are in the movie.

"Friday Night Lights" is different from what I thought it would be. It feels more like a gritty documentary than an actual movie. It's the true story of a small town in Texas, Odessa, that lives and breathes highschool football. On Friday nights, the town closes down, with "Gone to the Game" signs up in store fronts and everyone packing into the multimillion dollar football field to cheer the team to the state playoffs. The stadium is their auditorium, and these kids become rock stars.

Sure, the movie has a good amount of action sequences - the in your face grunts, hits, smashes and crunches that you expect from a movie. And by the way - the previews don't really give you a good idea of the movie, which, after seeing the movie, is pretty unfair to the feeling and tone of the movie. The movie is so much more than the ads.

But what really drives the movie is the characterization - not just of the lead characters, but of the town of Odessa itself. How the movie reveals that the sport of football, the fate of the Permian High Panthers, is directly related to the well being of the town. Billy Bob Thornton, who plays his role with such skill - there are so many nuances he brings out with just a look, makes an excellent coach - torn between the pressure of the town placed on his shoulders, and his moral responsibility to be a good coach to these kids. Lucas Black, who I loved when he was a kid in "American Gothic" and is all grown up now (yet still plays that dead serious, overthinking kind of character), plays the quarterback who doesn't love the game as much as he lets the college recruits know, but who feels the need to get out of the small town, and bears the responsibility for the teams failures since he's the leader of the team. Garrett Hedlund, whose father won a State Championship, but could never live up to his father's expectations, nor escape from his bouts of drunken rage. Derek Luke, who gave one of the best performances of the movie, the brash, trash talking egoistic star of the team, who later on must face the hard reality of his fate.

There is so much going on with the story, so many tales to tell. But that's what happens in a small town. In Odessa, they lived their lives, but they lived them around football. When the team did well, everything is good, when the team didn't, things were bad, and everyone tried to find someone to blame - "They're doing too much learning in the schools," a caller says to a talkshow. One of the boosters tells the coach, "You go and win that state championship". The coach then asks, "Or what?" "Just get it done." smiles the booster. Yeah. THAT'S not any pressure!

So yeah, it's a great movie. You'll be at the edge of your seat as you watch the games, cheering the team on and getting involved as much as the people in Odessa. And if you've ever been to a game, it'll bring back some memories. And if you've ever played the game, not only will it bring some memories, but it'll make you long to be back out on that field, to be with the amazing people you played with, to feel the rush of playing again.

Posted by Yano at October 10, 2004 12:24 AM

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