Friday Night Lights

[LA_Mustang]

I don’t usually get too excited about the opening of a movie but I am about FNL. I loved the book and everything I hear about the movie is that it’s very well done. This has to be pretty cool for Desmond Jones having his high school be a major player in the movie. That Carter team was unbelievable....didn’t 21 of the 22 starters get a college scholarship offer?

[huntnfish]

The movie is good showing the intense pageantry of high school football in Texas. However, it avoids the controversial racism, lack of care for academics, and some of the other darks side of too much pressure on high school kids by parents trying to live out their dreams through their children's lives. I thought the book was great because it showed the positive along with the negative. The movie would have been much better if it had done this.t year.

That Carter team included a young Jesse Armstead who I saw play the following year. He is the best high school player I ever saw. The guy reminded me of Lawrence Taylor from the original Nintendo Tecmo Bowl. He was in on almost every play, run or pass.

[Hal]

I'm seeing that movie right away. I have a friend whose father-in-law works for some movie distribution company, so he sees tons of movies before they hit the theater. He says it's unbelievable.

[Sam I Am]

Friday Night Lights is the story of the 1988 Odessa Permian High School football team's quest for a Texas championship (they lose to Dallas Carter). Billy Bob Thornton plays second year coach Gaines who contends with the high expectations of a town used to winning. The unknown actors cast as the Mojo teenage players are the real stars of the story. Of course, Hollywood has taken some liberties with what actually happened. The script skips some of the social criticism in the original book. All in all, the movie does a good job of telling the story; so good, that the boys who once played on that team feel vindicated by the film, whereas the book had been more of an expose'. I don't think this production ranks with Hoosiers because it is not as entertaining as that sport's classic. But it may be the best high school football story made so far. I give it a two and half star rating.