BAD direction

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2005)

A great story as told by a terrible director. The bizarre jumping camera angles and liberal use of pointless cuts and zooms left me queasier that when I watched Blair Witch. Still having trouble understanding why the director felt that MTV video style of filming for this movie was a good idea. If you can ignore the filming style and gratuitous spitting of blood - every one but the coach spits blood in this picture (the players, sideline photographers, etc) - a good story is hidden in this poorly executed picture somewhere... You get what you pay for with the acting - Billy Bob Thornton delivers a believable, but somewhat guarded performance. The young actors do a reasonable job, if somewhat one dimensional. I think seven stars is VERY generous for this movie - I'd recommend sticking to the book