The movie is based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger, who moved to Odessa, Texas to observe the Permian Panthers football team and its struggle to attain another state championship in 1988. Peter Berg (Bissinger's cousin and co-writer of the film script) ably directs the movie in its portrayal of football in Odessa as an overwhelming obsession that preoccupies the thoughts of every member of the town. The players are worshiped as gods, and thus have much farther to fall from their pedestals if they make any wrong moves. In addition to the normal pressures facing an all-star team, the burden of not disappointing an entire town is also placed heavily on their shoulders. Throughout the movie, both players and coaches are repeatedly accosted by town members who ask them how the season is going and whether they are going to win another championship. The town members never hesitate to give advice on plays, regardless of their authority on the subject. On game nights, the entire town flocks to the stadium, which is bigger than many college stadiums, to watch its idols. Berg prefaces these games with scenes from the town establishments, all of which have signs in their windows reading "Closed-gone to game." Every yard has at least one sign proclaiming a favorite player. Such is the level of intensity throughout the film, which never fades.
The story revolves around three seniors on the team, and their gifted coach Gary Gaines, played by Billy Bob Thornton. The seniors include Boobie Miles (Derek Luke, "Antwone Fisher"), a supremely talented running back who is the star of the team, Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund, "Troy"), whose problems with his abusive father (Tim McGraw, in a surprisingly good acting debut) almost derail his season and Mike Winchell (Lucas Black, "Sling Blade"), a quarterback for whom football is simply a ticket out of Odessa. While the town may judge these players simply by performance on the field, the movie does an incredible job of detailing their troubled family lives outside the stadium, and the actors all turn in stellar, heart-wrenching performances. Berg deftly intersperses scenes from the locker room and field with scenes from the homes of each character, showing that while home and sport may be separate for many other teams, these boundaries are non-existent in Odessa.
When an early injury to Miles threatens to demolish the "Mojo" season, the team must pull together as it suddenly becomes the underdog. Thornton gives an assured performance as a coach who values living up to potential as much as winning, a philosophy that doesn't sit well with the citizens of Odessa. The audience sees every inspirational speech inside the locker room, the most stirring being the one before the final game that deals with what it really means to be "perfect." I am sure there was not a single dry eye in the audience during this speech, men included. Perhaps what is most moving about this movie is that it so realistically portrays the pressure of expectations, and the short-lived glory of high school football in Texas. At several points in the movie the players wonder, "Is there life after football?"
The movie not only excels in its character portrayals, but also in other areas normally less noted in sports movies. The cinematography is gorgeous and gritty at once, showing sweeping views of the bleak landscapes that make up central Texas juxtaposed with views of game play so up close and personal you can hear the sound of bones crunching. The scenes are short and quick, mirroring reality-style television, which makes the movie even more resonant as a true depiction of towns all over the U.S. I have never seen football look as beautiful as it does in this movie, with Berg using unusual camera angles on arcing passes and crushing tackles. The spirit of the movie is well-captured, too, and the excitement and tension pervading the atmosphere of the games comes across so vividly that the entire theater audience audibly reacted to every missed catch and caught pass.
By the end of the movie, the suspense nearly killed me, and I became so involved with the characters that I could actually feel their desire for a championship ring. I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say it is bittersweet, as all things in this movie are. The virtue of "Friday Night Lights" is that you don't have to be a football fan to enjoy it (although it certainly helps). The movie tackles enough hard issues ranging from abuse to racism that any audience can empathize with it. In the end, after all, this team endures all this hardship and challenge simply for the love of the game and the chance at glory, however fleeting.