Based on the book and true story, Friday Night Lights is like no other sports movie I've ever seen. It's a contradiction in many ways, and I mean that in the best way possible.

The film has a lot of hand-held camera work and flash cutting like so many other modern movies, and while typically I hate that sort of thing, the cutting is well-timed and performed with obvious restraint. In other words, the film never goes full-out MTV generation on us. On the other hand, and here's the contradiction, at times Friday Night Lights feels more like a documentary than a movie. It's hard to put your thumb on why exactly this is, but to some degree it must indicate that the performances from the entire cast -- from Billy Bob Thornton down to the local fans -- are superb.

There are also several moments that ring so true that if you didn't know it was based on a real story you would've guessed. In fact, the film is also a contradiction because in many ways it ignores character and focuses on the overall story of the team, yet the character moments are where it excels and you'd think there'd be a few more of them.

The most notable of these moments involves the young man at the center of this sports tale, the team's star player, James "Boobie" Miles. The kid has so much raw talent he was bound to fly through college ball and be tearing up the NFL before long, but what he didn't expect was to tear a ligament in his knee. The great scene that encompasses what the severity of this injury really means comes long after he leaves the playing field; he's watching a black man, like himself, toss garbage into the back of a dump-truck. And then it hits: football wasn't just a meal ticket, it was the very core of his life and identity, and he'll never be the same again.

For all of the film's flash cutting and hard hits, this moment is by far the most jarring to your senses. It's also a prime example of Friday Night Lights' emotional subtext, which is why it's more than just your average football flick.

Posted January 19, 2005 | link