Good but not fantastic

Rating: 6/10 (10 October 2004)

First, I must say that I am a football fan. High school football in particular. I heard about this movie months ago and was excited to see it on opening day. Much of the hype said that it is the 'best sports movie ever made'. I disagree. It is a good story of a season in the life of one Texas high school team. If you are going into it to gain some sort of insight into football, or even to see some great football plays, you'll be disappointed. I was, however, surprised at how much it included about the players lives (outside of school or football). I was impressed by that- though there are too many characters and too little time to go into much depth. I became interested initially because it is a true story. Being Hollywood though I believe they embellished a bit - I suspect that the story itself was tweaked and the coach made less of a jerk to make it more movie- and audience-friendly. (Though it is far from sugar-coated.) That is why I decided to get the book and read it, to get the real story.
Bottom line- good story, a little different perspective than in other sports movies. See it if you like football, but not if you have sky-high expectations.