Friday Night Lights

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8 out of 10

This is the true story of a college American football team based in Odessa, Texas. Friday Night Lights is based on the book of the same name. In the book, a journalist joins the team over the course of the season and you get to know the players, coaches, parents, and most of all what the game means to the people of Odessa.

Firstly, the film does not work as well as the book. There is no history of the town, the rivalries between other teams or the corruption involved in getting high school kids grades to the level where they can spend all their time playing football. In fact the journalist is cut completely from the movie. It's understandable that cuts were made in these areas, as otherwise it would have been an hour or two longer.

Instead the film focuses on the players and coach, the highs and lows of the season, the good, the bad and the desperate times. As the players are based on real people they never really slipped into lazy sterotyping. The performance of Lucas Black as Quarterback Mike Winchell, was particularly good (Some people may recognise him as Caleb from the tv Series, American Gothic).

Most importantly for me as a massive fan of US Football, the games themselves looked real. I don't suppose anyone will watch this movie, who isn't an american football nut but I believe this is one of the best sports movies I have seen (yes even better than Goldie Hawn's Wildcats, as hard as that is to believe!).

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