Reason to spend Friday night under the ‘Lights’

Sean Hennen / Reviewer

Sports movies can lose sight of their initial goals under a heavy veneer of flash and pizzazz because the filmmakers know that no matter what the sport, they have to make it look like the most exciting exhibition of athleticism on the planet. Hollywood has to attract a wide audience of more than just avid followers of whatever the film’s point of interest, so they gloss it up and turn the sport into a video game.

Looking back through the most memorable and successful sports movies of all time, a similarity springs up to connect all the films: character-driven drama. Americans follow various sports to the point of fanaticism because they are involved in the players that dominate the game. It’s why 10-year-olds trade baseball cards and college guys create fantasy football teams.

“The Natural,” “Hoosiers,” “Rudy” and this year’s “Miracle” all wisely chose to focus on the players - the heart and soul of every sport - and allowed the storytelling to unfold from there. Audiences connected to the unique character portraits in each movie and were therefore drawn intensely into the plot. This is what makes a great sports movie.

“Friday Night Lights,” as directed with realistic grit and passion by Peter Berg, is more a snapshot of a football-obsessed community. The actual game takes a backseat to the character studies for whole portions of the film. While there are a number of eye-popping, exciting game sequences, the real meat of the story lies in the town being exposed.

The town of Odessa, Texas serves as the backdrop of “Friday Night Lights” and is depicted on the screen in full bleached-out and earth-toned glory, captured in mostly handheld, documentary-style camerawork. Oil refineries are constantly pumping somewhere nearby, dust blows through vacant landscapes and every Friday night the entire town comes out to watch the Permian High Panthers varsity football team.

All of Odessa follows the team with practically religious fervor, pinning the desperate hopes of dead-end lives each year on a rag-tag collection of high school boys.

The movie closely follows the 1988 season, particularly centering on novice head coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), who has to bear a school board that could fire him if he doesn’t bring home a state championship and a town populated with second-guessers who are more than happy to tell him how he should be coaching.

In this role, Thornton shines with quiet humility and subtle dignity. Even his obligatory championship game halftime speech feels authentic and low-key as he refuses to steal the show from the young men making up the team.

Filling out the Permian Panthers roster are a number of terrific performances that radiate honesty and accuracy. The quarterback, Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), wants to escape Odessa but he also doesn’t want to leave his chronically ill mother.

Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) has the double duty of living up to the expectations of his teammates and his father (remarkably played by country-singer Tim McGraw), a former Panther himself.

A particular standout is hotshot running back Bobbie Miles, who blows out his knee at the season opener. As played by Derek Luke, this character breathes reality, a fallen hero who had hung all his hopes on a football career that will never be. A scene in which Luke breaks down after cleaning out his locker is a show-stopper of staggering power.

“Friday Night Lights” is one of the most honest sports movies to come out in recent years. This isn’t a movie about larger-than-life athletes, it’s a movie about boys forced to become men during one season of football as their hometown watches and judges from the sidelines.

As the film comes to a close, a final coda reveals what became of each player. It is sobering to find out that many went absolutely nowhere. Maybe futures as average Joes is the best we can wish for any of these young men.

Contact Sean Hennen at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.

Photo courtesy of movies.com
Billy Bob Thornton leads an ensemble cast of relative Hollywood newcomers in this week’s “Friday Night Lights.”