No. 46 - Friday Night Lights (2004)

HOPE  COMES  ALIVE

Rated: R for language, football violence

Director: Peter Berg; Screenplay: Berg and David Aaron Cohen; based on Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and and Dream by H. G. Bissinger

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Tim McGraw, Ivory Jackson, Connie Britton, Connie Cooper

Movie Introduction: As is the case with most small Texas towns, they obsesses over their local high school football teams to a heightened degree. This particular team is Odessa Permian, a large 5-A program that is used to winning. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope appears to be lost, and the school board's win-at-all-costs expectations start of manifest. All the pressure falls on the abilities of head coach Gary Gaines (Thornton) to right the ship and inspire the team, led by seniors QB Winchell (Black), FB Billingsley (Hedlund) and DB Chavez (Hernandez). The team squeaks into the playoffs, but ends up facing a stacked city team from Dallas.    

Defining Moment: Boobie's doctor visit

Boobie Miles is Permian’s star running back. He’s talented and very cocky, but likeable. He and his uncle, Joe, have big plans – a full ride to college and a big professional contract in the NFL. Then, in the season's opening game, Boobie injures his knee, never a good thing for a running back. After the team doctor’s uncertain assessment of three week’s missed time, they see an orthopedic surgeon. Boobie can’t wait to get clearance to return to the practice field for his team. The MRI reveals the worst news – a torn ACL (in the '80's this was a career-ending injury). After hearing this, Boobie asks, "So when can I practice?", not understanding the severity. The doctor tells him he won’t be playing football anymore. How the young athlete handles this news is unexpected… and gut-wrenching!

Something subtle you might have missed:  bet on black

The first time we saw Billy Bob Thornton and Lucas Black on the big screen was a little independent film called Sling Blade, also in the Top 50. Thornton’s role as Karl, is unforgettable, but Lucas Black's performance as the young boy Frank was very memorable as well. Next, Mr. Thornton directed the pseudo-Western film, All The Pretty Horses. Black’s performance in this film, as the unwanted drifter, is amazing and sadly tragic. Clearly Thornton likes what Black brings to his performances. Their next film together was Friday Night Lights.  It's also a big winner in my book.

Memorable Quotes:

"What am I gonna do if I can't play football? I'm not good at nothin'!" - Boobie Miles

"Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could." - Coach Gaines

Dad's Review:

I am always on the lookout for a film that successfully encapsulates high school football. This film is set in the late 80's, when I played, proudly wearing #77, for the 3-A Clyde High School Bulldogs. I really feel that Friday Night Lights accurately, and often painfully, recreates that experience.  

There is just something about high school football. The crisp fall evening air. The band. The cheerleaders. The bleachers packed with fans. The alumni loitering just beyond the fence near the home end zone. Sure, football is great for physical conditioning, camaraderie, and teaching tough lessons that will help these young men later in life. But it's more than that, too.

I was "saved" by high school football. Through it, and its toughness, I became the person I wanted to be. It wasn't easy. I quit the first day of practice in 5th grade. I was not prepared for the hard work, and I was a full-on whiny Momma's Boy. I didn't play again until 7th grade. We had moved back to our old home town, where my brother and cousin had played years before. I was determined to stick it out this time. And I did.

Thanks to my size I took to the sport and made the varsity as a sophomore. Then I encountered some more challenges. 

At the first scrimmage, against Stamford, in 10th grade I suffered an orbital skull fracture and missed six games. In the first scrimmage in 11th grade, again against Stamford, I was hit below the knee and fractured both my right tibia and fibula shin bones. I missed the entire football and basketball seasons.

Many, including my mother and Aunt Peg, wanted me to give up football. I certainly couldn't blame them. The only person encouraging me to go for it was my good friend, Melissa.  So, I fought through recovery and played my senior year. You can't believe how excited I was to make it through the first scrimmage without injury!

These events changed everything. I learned how to fight through difficulty. It shaped my work ethic for the rest of my life.   

Friday Night Lights highlights the good aspects of high school football, however, it explores the dark side, too: Injuries, Pressures.

This film follows the 1988 season of the  Panthers. Black and White uniforms. Mojo. 5-A. This is Big Time. For these big powerhouse Texas teams, things are a lot more serious. It's more competitive. There's more pressure on the coaches, who pass those expectations to the young men on the team. Schools spend millions on stadiums, and school boards want a winner.

There are those that feel this "win at all costs" mentality turns a positive sport into a negative experience - the film shows this without holding back, and it's this honesty that elevates the film.

Each of the film's central characters have their own tests to endure. Head Coach Gary Gaines is expected to win with no leeway. The senior quarterback is expected to lead the team, while bearing the responsibility of caring for his ailing mother. The talented tailback suffers a season ending injury. The team's fullback is constantly derided by this drunken father who once played for Permian, won a state title, and pushes his son mercilessly.

All these subplots are set against a very real backdrop where high school football is way more important than is even logical. In some strange way, the town's identity and success is often hard-wired to how their football team fares. It's crazy.

At first Coach Gaines almost seems like a monster as he pushes his players to "be perfect". Yet, as we move through the season, the head coach finds new ways to pull the boys together. His edges soften. He visits the QB at home and gives him a memorial pep talk. The half-time speech in the season final game is very special to witness. Coach Gaines really shows us his humanity and the love he has for his players. It is one of the film's best moments. 

When the last whistle blew, and I had played my last high school game, I knew there was more football in me. Hell, I had been hurt more than two-thirds of my high school football career! I had more to prove to myself. I went on to play four more years at McMurry College. When that whistle blew, I knew I was done.

For most of my high school teammates, however, they would never put on pads again. Like me, they are left with only the memories of crisp fall Friday nights at buzzing Bulldog Stadium in little Clyde, Texas. The drum beat of the band. The smell of Frito Pie's at the concession stand. The bright lights. The roar of the crowd. The crack of helmets. The thrill of it all.

Onto No. 47... Succumb Difficultly