Friday Night Lights (film)
Friday Night Lights is a 2004 American sports drama film co-written and directed by Peter Berg. The film follows the coach and players of a high school football team in the Texas city of Odessa. The book on which it is based, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream (1990) by H. G. Bissinger, followed the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team as they made a run towards the state championship. A television series of the same name premiered on October 3, 2006, on NBC. The film won the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award and was ranked number 37 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Best High School Movies.[1][2]
Friday Night Lights
- David Aaron Cohen
- Peter Berg
- Colby Parker Jr.
- David Rosenbloom
- Gabrielle Fasulo
- October 8, 2004 (United States)
118 minutes
United States
English
$30 million
$62 million
Plot[edit]
As preseason practice begins for the Permian High School football team in August 1988, the town of Odessa, Texas has high expectations for the players and their coach Gary Gaines to win a state championship with their star running back James "Boobie" Miles. The quarterback, Mike Winchell, runs under the expectation of handing off the ball to Miles on most plays. Fullback Don Billingsley struggles with his ball handling and is abused by his alcoholic father Charles, who won a state championship with Permian. The players frequently party as they deal with the pressures of Odessa's expectations.
In the season opener against the Marshall Bulldogs, the Permian Panthers make the game a blowout. Gaines intends to bench Miles in the waning minutes, but keeps him in after third-stringer Chris Comer misplaces his helmet making him unprepared to go in. Miles is sent in but tears his ACL after being tackled at the knee on the ensuing play. After the incident Gaines endures intense public backlash from the town for keeping Miles in. In the next game during the start of district play, Permian gets blown out as Winchell struggles with consistency in his increased role. However, after the Panthers fall behind by 14 in the next game, Comer comes into the game after the second-string running back gets injured and helps Winchell and Billingsley get Permian's offense rolling again, leading them to a comeback win. Despite their small size, Permian's defense proves to be stout under the leadership of safety Brian Chavez and linebacker Ivory Christian, and the Panthers embark on a five-game winning streak.
Miles holds out hope that he can return to playing soon. Unfortunately, his MRI scan shows that he needs immediate knee surgery and cannot play for rest of the season. Miles boldly denies the severity of his knee injury and lies to Gaines so he can suit up again, with his uncle and legal Guardian L.V. advocating for him. Permian plays its final district game against Midland Lee, with first place and a playoff berth on the line. The Panthers fall behind, and Gaines puts Miles in out of desperation, but Miles is soon injured again. Winchell leads a comeback drive, but Permian ultimately loses as his final pass flies over the receiver's hands. After the game, Billingsley fights with his drunk father, who throws his state championship ring onto the side of the freeway. The next morning, Don reveals to his father that he recovered the championship ring and gives it back to him. Charles partially apologizes and makes the point that his state championship was the best thing that happened to him, and he now has nothing happy except those memories. The loss puts Permian in a three-way tie for first place with Lee and Abilene Cooper, and a coin toss is held to determine which two teams make the playoffs. Permian and Lee win the toss, and as the Panthers prepare for the playoffs, Miles clears his locker. While in his uncle's car, he cries about his future being bleak now that his promising football career has ended.
Permian is successful in the playoffs, but all eyes are on the state powerhouse Dallas Carter High School. Permian and Carter make it to the state championship game, which is held at the Astrodome. Miles rejoins the team and watches from the sidelines as the Panthers head into the game. They are initially overwhelmed by Carter's superior size and fall behind, although an interception by Christian helps get them on the board before halftime. In the second half, Carter gains a 20-point lead after a pass on fourth down which hit the turf is erroneously ruled complete. However, Permian's defense improves its tackling and the offense pushes through despite injuries as the Panthers score 14 unanswered points to cut the deficit to six. They stop Carter on fourth and inches, leaving the offense to go 75 yards in less than two minutes for the win. Winchell, Billingsley, and Comer are all injured, but the former two reenter the game. Billingsley takes the ball to the 1 yard line on fourth down, but the play is called back due to a holding penalty. With two seconds left, Winchell desperately runs the ball toward the goal line, but is stopped just short, and Carter wins the championship. As the Permian players soak in their defeat, Billingsley reconciles with his father.
Afterwards, Gaines removes the outgoing seniors from his depth chart, and it is revealed that Winchell, Billingsley, Miles, and Chavez went on to have successful lives after their football careers ended, with only Christian earning a Division I scholarship. The film ends with the statement that Gaines and Comer led Permian to an undefeated state championship season the following year.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 173 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The consensus reads: "An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie."[4] The film also has a score of 70/100 on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews.[5]
Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 3 and ½ stars, writing, "The movie demonstrates the power of sports to involve us; we don't live in Odessa and are watching a game played 16 years ago, and we get all wound up."[6]
Other reviews opined the film seemed to glorify what it was criticizing. Charles Taylor of Salon wrote, “...in the second half, the movie turns into a rah-rah celebration of exactly the mind-set it's spent the first half criticizing. All of the bad things that have resulted from the characters' mindless devotion to gridiron glory--the abusive father who stays drunk to forget that the peak of his life came at 17; the barely educated Boobie's having nothing left in his life when a knee injury ends his dream of playing pro -- are converted into obstacles that test the mettle of the young warriors”.[7] Taylor did praise the acting, particularly the performances of Black, Luke, and Thornton.[7]
Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film for skirting the issue of race relations in Odessa, which Bissinger had gone in depth about in his book.[8] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film 3 stars but said it did not sufficiently get into the heads of the players like the book did.[9]
While the residents of Odessa held a negative reception of the book due to its account of race relations in the Texas city, they eagerly anticipated the release of the film.[10][11]
Accolades[edit]
The film was recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: