Glory Days

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2004)

Friday NIGHT LIGHTS (2004) *** Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Jay Hernandez, Tim McGraw, Connie Britton. (Dir: Peter Berg) GLORY DAYS I may be in the minority but I just don't follow football (or sports in general for that matter) basically since I never had any athletic ability in high school (or before or after my duration thereof) but I do know it's even more popular now then it was back then. Frankly speaking I hated pretty much all sports and never got the jock mindset. What makes things difficult for me now is actually paying for a ticket to see any film with a sports theme to it and I rather grudgingly went to see this expecting to not like it. Well I am glad to admit I was wrong. For the most part.
Based on the true life account of the 1988 The Permian High Panthers squad's struggle to become state champs in Odessa, Texas and on H.G. Bissinger's book the film focuses on the fair yet tough coach Gary Gaines (a transfixing low-keyed turn by Thornton) who must face tough scrutiny by the locals, the school and his own team who all live, breathe and abide in the sport as a true way of life in the Nowheresville persona of the town.
Among the players that are portrayed are star Boobie Miles (Luke who made one of the most auspicious debuts in recent film history in ANTWOINE FISHER), a big mouth who does more talking than working out since he is under the assumption he's God's gift to football (his arrogance soon gets the best of him when in the first game he is severely injured); Mike Winchell (Black who co-starred with Thornton in SLING BLADE), a quiet yet determined star quarterback, who wants desperately for a scholarship as his ticket out of his Podunk town; and running back Don Billingsley (Hedlund) who must deal with his humiliating, bullying alcoholic father (country singing superstar McGraw pulling a Dwight Yoakam in his big-screen debut) Charles, whose nasty tirades are fueled by his living past glories as a football hero vicariously thru his rough around the edges progeny with some truly repugnant behavior (he makes Robert Duvall's character , THE GREAT SANTINI, look like Mr. Rogers). The trio all learn some life lessons as the season progresses in an uphill battle to achieve their dreams to become state champs and bask in their historied glories.
For the most part actor turned director Berg (THE RUNDOWN) has a good eye for keeping his camera fluid, non-stop in its breathless, bone-crunching action and pell-mell editing techniques work to full-tilt, visceral effect conveying the fierce violence and threat imposed to each and every play on the field.
He also smartly lets his characters develop nicely never going for a cheap emotion or hamstring the deft script he co-wrote with David Aaron Cohen.
The only thing that prevents me for giving this a slightly higher grade may in fact be my personal feelings specifically of just how over-the-top the nation is in its regards to football as the be-all-end-all of what it means to be a man or more precisely how to be macho. I just hate that mentality and of course Berg deserves props for depicting just how insane one small town has a fevered love for the game by any means necessary; it's just my opinion what is so wrong about the good IL' USA  you're nobody unless you're somebody.