An Incredible Movie

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2007)

Fiday Night Lights is a marvellous piece of film making that I can watch over and over and am always sucked in to a story of heroism, tragedy, desperation and realism. The cast peforms to a very high standard, especially Lucas Black as Mike Winchell, a brilliant but troubled 17 year old kid with the responsibility for a team that has a whole town depending on them. He manages to portray Winchell so well that it is impossible not to feel empathy and admiration for the character. Billy Bob as Coach Gaines is understated and subtle yet perfect for the role. The most impressive thing about this film is that at no point do you forget that the characters are just boys and the director Peter Berg has done well to resist the temptation of putting the boys on a pedestal of heroics and success. The atmosphere he creates is also superb using the Texan band Explosions in the Sky to create an unforgettable score that enhances the shots of the town Odessa and surrounding West Texas. Although this is a sports movie, it is so removed from the stereotype that it does more to deserve a title of "best sports movie" it transcends themes that go so much further than the niche of a football movie. In this instance the football is in no way rooted to how good this film is but similarly it is irreplaceable, the story of the Permian Panthers of 1988 is as deserving as any.