Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

eric262003 Set in Odessa, Texas in the year 1988, "Friday Night Lights" centres around a town in Texas who's thriving to make it into the state finals. But the issues go way beyond the gridiron, as players are faced with personal issues as we cross-examine them through the benefits of sports and the triumphs and setbacks that comes with the package while the whole town wants this team to win like their lives are depending on them.This is not the cliched underdog story with the selected team we're forced to root for to go all the way. The big rewards are the events that led to the team winning which is more reflective in storytelling and feels more refreshing in its premise. There are moments that are melancholy and humane, intense and surreal, hopeless and triumphant. Sure this film seems to be the perfect companion for sports lovers, but if you're not fanatical about sports, there's plenty more to like about this film. The human issues depicted in this movie has equally poignant moments than compared to the action on the football field.Under the direction of Peter Berg who co-starred with Linda Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction", utilizes his power to tell an intriguing story while pulling no punches about it. Sure the settings of this film is in the late 1980's, you wouldn't really know the difference with its modern outlook. The cuts are quick-paced, the hand-held shots are quick-tempered, but it works effectively due to the point of view that comes behind it all. Berg wants us to a part of his world contrary to the ones we live in. His concentration is not about the actual game but the dramatic scenes that lead prior to the climactic game like it was a memory we can reminisce to our grandchildren when we get older.While filmed on stock angles, the film truly feels just like a flashback. The period details are enough to this film a more storied effect in its presentation making this archaic technique all the more sufficient. The film does succeed giving the background that 1980's vibe with costumes, clothing and props that were prominent to the time period this film is set in. A firm example is that the female costars are sporting the typical big thick haired pompadour that was apropos for the 1980's.Billy Bob Thornton adds to the authenticity as a sports a look that is similar to that of a young Jimmy Swaggert as Coach Gary Gaines who combines the willfulness to win while playing an important role in his young player's lives. He can really turn the role of his personality as he can be volatile in one moment and then compassionate in another.Coach Gaines has a lot on his mind as he's placed in a disposition of very talented players, but are still green, but he hopes to change that with their need for speed. One of the prominent characters on the gridiron is a young man named Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), a arrogant player who plans to make it big. Those plans come in question when an injury sidelines him. Boobie now has to think from the outside while looking on while sitting out while seeking other options in life outside of football.Though Berg and screenwriters Buzz Bissinger snd David Aaron Cohen lures into caring about which team is going to win, does not mean the characters themselves feel the same way. Therefore, we get the better understanding of how obsessive the town is in its dependence not how the team is playing, just as long as they win the state championship. Every other time, the life in that town is one long, cynical slog, but the championship season, the town lights up brighter than the neon lights of Sin City. The stress factor is on these kids as they strive to make these memories all the more worthwhile while trying to appease to the drab, unmotivated adults which lacks in any healthy relations.Tim McGraw who plays Billingsley, an abusive father to one of the players gives an unhealthy reprimand to his son that this game will mean more to him than anything he's ever going to achieve in life. Granted he's right sine like so many others in that town who's one-track-mind fixation is all that's coming to them. The execution to that frame in mind is handled brilliantly. When Gaines drives home after being ostracized over the radio, he's confronted by two local townspeople threatening his job if his team doesn't win. Gee no rest for the weary?Even though as adults they'll remember this event as long as they live, the kids they were back then were left feeling miserable, frustrated and stressed out not from the coach or their regiment or even, let alone the game, but by the townsfolk who forced them to excel, not through their hard work, but by their own personal pride. The tension is bestowed upon Lucas Black's performance as the star quarterback and Garrett Hedlund shines as the young Billingsley. Although masked as a football film, the drama of this story is about a football team drafted into a metaphorical war zone obsessed by the neurotic pleasures of the citizens of Odessa, Texas.

pramsalim I always had a soft spot for sport movies. I felt this movie was exceptional. In a small town inside of Texas, high school football is the most important event. When the Permian High Panthers loses its main star Boobie Miles, all hope is lost. It is up to newly appointed coach Gary Gaines to flare that hope again. The movie was shot in documentary-style. Similar to a reality show. It gives a realistic feel to the movie which helped the movie a lot. It distinguished itself from the other sport movies. It brings us closer to the team.What I loved the most in this movie is the sense of importance they brought to the football match. Everyone lived their everyday lives in the poor town without passion. Drinking beers, driving trucks, working in a gas station. But when it comes to the football match, It lights up their excitement like a firecracker. It seems as if the football match was their only source of happiness. They acknowledge this as well as the players. The seniors were doing their final year as a football player. They know they weren't good enough to go pro, and surely they weren't smart enough nor rich enough to pursue higher education. This was as good as it gets. That was why every match felt very exciting and heartbreaking to watch.

Tim Pfeifer Based on the award winning book by H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights provides the audience with an inside look at the magnitude of high school football in Texas. The film follows several players, as well as the head coach, as the Permian Panthers attempt to win the State Championship during the 1988 season. The roles of Mike Winchell and Don Billingsley are portrayed well by Lucas Black and Garrett Hedlund. Through their performances, Black and Hedlund were able to show the pressure and stress that football players felt. At one point in the film, one football player says, "relax we're seventeen" and Billingsley responds, "do you feel seventeen?". This quote emphasizes how in Texas, high school football players are held to higher standards than most teenagers. The best performance came from Billy Bob Thornton though, as he played Head Coach Gary Gaines. Thornton does a great job in showing the anxiety of a football coach in Texas. It was cool to see Billy Bob Thornton and Lucas Black together again, eight years after they starred in Sling Blade. The film is directed well throughout, but the final scene stood out the most to me. The scene consists of three football players standing in the parking lot of the stadium a couple days after their last high school game ever. As the players bid farewell to their careers, you can see how a huge part of their lives is over. High school football really isn't like it is in Texas anywhere else. Through excellent directing and acting, the film is successful in highlighting the enormous impact that high school football has on small towns in Texas.

jeffreymeadows6 Friday Night Lights is one of the best sports movies of all time, not only because of the great acting, but because of the great story line. Director Peter Berg does an excellent job displaying the small town of Odessa as a place where football is the last thing keeping the town alive. A place where being a football coach is one of the most stressful jobs, and where wins are heavily expected from the local community. If you are a sports movie fanatic like I am, then this film is a definite must-see. It is probably one of the best dramas I've seen in years, and it ends leaving you with a new feel of respect for high school football.Although it may follow along the same plot type as many other sports movies where a team rallies together after facing some kind of adversity (in this case Boobie Miles injury) and goes forth to advance in their season, it holds a much deeper story. A story where football is only a small portion of what is really going on, the town seems to be at a loss for economic success and they need something to root for in order to bring them hope. Friday Night Lights does a good job showing how football is not only a game, but more of a lifestyle in Odessa Texas. While the acting was superb, I thought that director out-did himself here and brought a film to the table that displays the true meaning of football in some places. For instance, the scene where quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black) is out eating with his teammates at a local fast food joint and a man comes up to him asking for him to take a picture with his son brilliantly portrays how much the team is looked up to. This also gives the viewers a chance to get a grasp for how much pressure these young kids were under while playing football in Odessa. Or even the scene where Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) is out grocery shopping with his family and some locals pull up to him in the parking lot and ask him if they are going to win state this year. Followed by a snide remark declaring for him to "get it done" as a coach. Both of these small scenes implemented by Director Berg give off a sense of harsh reality that the Permian Panther football team must face, that they are the life of their small town, and without them, many people would have nothing to look forward to every Friday night.Also the fact that this movie is based off of a true story makes it that much more special in my opinion, the director was able to portray Odessa Texas in a new light, one that gave me a new feel for how small towns functioned, and it was almost inspiring to see how much everyone came together to support a single team every Friday Night. And this can be a hard task when having to follow along the true story of what actually happened. After I had watched the movie, I even took the time to up some stuff about the Permian Panthers and what I found closely resembled how the movie displayed it. I watched some old game footage and read up on some of the players, and how they were portrayed online seemed identical to how I saw them in the movie.This movie is a top-notch sports film, and one of the best out there. If you like small town football and want to know more about what goes on in the lives of many of those small town athletes, then this movie is definitely for you. I've gained a lot more respect for kids who have been able to get out of their small town slump and attend college based off of their football talent just by watching this movie. I now have a better understanding for what they've been through, and from what I can tell, it's not easy doing what a lot of those young kids do every Friday night.