Was a joke to claim this movie was based on a true story

Rating: 1/10 (24 January 2005)

Watched the movie over 15 years after reading the book. As I watched the movie, I kept on thinking, "This wasn't how I remembered it in the book." I went back to the book and noticed the following inaccuracies:
1. In the movie it was stated that it was Coach Gaine's 2nd season. In the book/real life it was his 3rd season as head coach.
2. In the movie it was stated that Coach Gaine's salary was 60k. In the book/real life it was 48k. This is a prime example of how poor a job that the producers did with this movie that they couldn't even get straight how long the coach had been there and what his salary was.
3. In the movie they showed the team practicing at Ratliff stadium. In the book/real life they practiced at the high school.
4. In the movie the star running back Boobie Miles suffered a knee injury in the 1st game. In the book Friday Night Lights/real life he injured his knee in a scrimmage.
5. In the movie Permian was shown losing their 2nd game to Abilene Cooper 49-7. In the book/real life the Permian school district chartered a 737 jet to fly the team 530 miles east to play East Texas power Marshall. Permian lost the game by 1 point.
6. In the movie Permian is shown losing to rival Midland Lee by a touchdown. In the book/real life they lost to Midland Lee by 1 point.
7. In the movie Permian finished the regular season with 2 district losses and in a 3 way tie for the conference title with Midland Lee & Cooper Abilene. In the book/real life Permian finished the regular season with one district loss in a 3 way tie with Midland Lee and Midland.
8. In the movie a 5 round, 32 team playoff bracket was shown. In the book/real life there was a 6 round/64 team playoff bracket.
9. In the movie Permian was shown defeating Dallas Jesuit in the 1st round of the playoffs. In the book/real life they beat Amarillo Tascosa in the 1st round of the playoffs.
10. In the movie Permian was shown beating San Angelo in the second round of the playoffs. In the book/real life they beat San Angelo in the last game of the regular season, and beat the Andress Eagles in the second round of the playoffs.
11. In the movie Permian was shown beating Amarillo in the 4th round of the playoffs (again, they beat Amarillo in the 1st round in the book/real life). In the book/real life the beat the Lamar Vikings in the 4th round of the playoffs. The only playoff game that was portrayed accurately was the 3rd round win over the Irving Nimitz Vikings.
12. The movie showed Permian losing to Dallas Carter 34-26 in the 5th round of the playoffs, the state championship. In the book/real life Permian lost to Dallas Carter 14-9 in the 5th round of the playoffs, the state semifinals. The movie portrayed Permian being stopped on the 1 foot line with no time left. In the book/real life the game ended on an incomplete pass.
13. The movie showed Permian and Dallas Carter officials meeting in Midland deciding where to play the game, agreeing to play the game in the Houston Astrodome. In the book/real life they agreed to play the game at the Univ of Texas Stadium in Austin.
14. The movie showed the star running back who was hurt at the beginning of the movie, Boobie Miles, quitting the team and then rejoining the team for the trip to play Dallas Carter to cheer the team on, showing him forming a special bond with his teammates. In the book/real life, Miles quit the team, never rejoined it, and listened to the game on the radio back in Odessa.
15. The movie portrayed one team captain, Ivory Christian, as a defensive end. In the book/real life he was a linebacker.
16. The movie portrayed another team captain, Chavez, as a defensive back. In the book/real life he was a tight end.
There are numerous other examples of inaccuracies in the movie and erroneous portrayals of what actually occurred in the book/real life. Some of the other posters have already commented on many of them. In addition the movie used a bunch of actors obviously in their mid 20s to portray the Permian players. The Dallas Carter players in the movie all appeared to be in their 20s and 30s. These high school players in real life were mostly 16-17 years old. It looks ridiculous to have actors in their 20s and 30s playing a bunch of 16-17 year olds. The movie portrays Odessa as a small town. Its not- its a city of 100,000. And anyone on here who refers to Odessa as a small town is completely ignorant to the fact its not. The movie also overly and negatively stereotyped the citizens of Odessa as a bunch of ignorant, racist rednecks. That's typical stereotyping by Hollywood liberals of small city folks and southerners. Some of the real people portrayed in the movie probably even have grounds for defamation of character lawsuits.
Its a joke that this movie was called based on a true story, and this is coming from someone who lived in small city Texas for several years and followed Texas high school football. It should have been called what it was-a mostly fictional movie. The movie was typical Hollywood garbage. As usual, whenever Hollywood tries to make a movie based on a true event, they always intentionally and unintentionally get their facts wrong, alter events, and make up stuff that didn't happen. Its not worth even paying $4-5 to rent from Blockbuster. The book, on the other hand, is worth the read.