A Sports Film With a Touch of Humanity

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2018)

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.