Friday Night Lights review

America's love of sports is matched only by its love of sports movies for which it possesses an unquenchable thirst. The unscripted drama of sport continually throws up tales of the triumphant underdog or great heroism, providing a bottomless well from which to draw upon. With such an exhaustive catalogue of sports films already existing, the hardest challenge is coming up with a unique spin. Based on H.G. Bissinger's true account of a Texas high school football team, Friday Night Lights is competent and diverting but possesses too many familiar ingredients to invoke much enthusiasm.

American football has featured recently in Oliver Stone's loud and brash Any Given Sunday and the more thoughtful and stirring Remember The Titans. Friday Night Lights is in some ways an amalgam of the two, possessing the slick, stylized look of Stone's film while telling the more personal story captured by Titans. Director Peter Berg has imbued FNL with a pace and energy reflective of the game which, coupled with Tobias Schiessler's grainy cinematography and the quick fire editing, gives it more the appearance of a commercial than a film.

FNL hints at wanting to go deeper, at exploring the lives of the young players and the coach, and establishing how important the team is to the dusty small town of Odessa, but wary of slowing the action down it rarely delves below the surface. Instead it turns to one of the numerous scenes of the team during the course of the season which, although effectively shot, has the reverse effect of interrupting the drama.

Friday Night Lights chronicles the fortunes of the Permian Panthers High School team during the 1988 season. Billy Bob Thornton plays coach Gaines who is in his second year in charge of a team that are used to success. The Panthers' tradition of winning is the only thing the small town of Odessa has and it's something the locals are keen to continue. Becoming state champions is expected. Defeat isn't an option, so putting enormous pressure on the young players and coach. For most of Odessa's men, their time in the Panthers is the highlight of their lives. As one parent tells his son, "You've got one year to make yourself some memories."

Ten years after Slingblade, Billy Bob is reunited with Lucas Black who is quietly effective as the troubled quarterback Mike Winchell. Derek Luke is excellent as the cocky star player Boobie Miles while Garrett Hedlund is equally capable as the battered son of an abusive, alcoholic father (country singer Tim McGraw making a strong screen debut) who pushes him relentlessly.

Friday Night Lights' postscript provides an update on what became of the central players and coach Gaines since their time in the team. Had the film focused more attention on really getting to know these people than in looking flash and busy, this information might have been more meaningful. As it was though, it was hard to really care.