Fourth and Inches

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2012)

"Gentlemen. The hopes and dreams of an entire town are riding on your shoulders. You may never matter more than you do right now. It's time." This line was said by the coach Gary Carter played by Billy Bob Thornton, who in my opinion did a great job portraying that tough football coach. This says so much about the movie itself because it's true these are high school boys who feel so much pressure every Friday night when they step onto that turf. Odessa, Texas loves their football and they expect so much from these young men. This film also shows the high price people are willing to pay in order to excel at all costs. For example, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke) who in the home opener receives a hard hit that possibly could end his high school career. Boobie decides to continue playing even though the pain is too much, the next game he receives a low blow hit to the same spot that will end all the chances he had to play pro football.
Peter Berg the director of this pg-13 film was demonstrating how much one thing can mean to so many people and also how far people will go for the love of that one thing. He does a great job of capturing the primary message of the film across to its viewers. In the movie it's all about the love of the game, but in reality this applies to so many things in life. We strive to succeed and in doing so we sometimes fall but still we will go as far as we have too in order to reach our goal because it's something we love. These high school boys literally bled and broke bones to win a game it's the passion that's the reason we do things.
"Friday Night Lights" is definitely one of my top ten favorite movies. It has good actors who all do a great job in portraying what they are supposed to. The dialogue was easy to follow and it's not like every other sports film there is something about this one that makes it different to the others. I'd give it 4 ½ stars out of 5.