The latest football story to be told on the big screen,
Friday Night Lights pounds, slams and drills its way to the
end zone, but the final score falls short of "the greatest sports story ever told."
Billy Bob Thornton stars as the coach of the 1988 Permian Panthers out of the economically-challenged Odessa, Texas, a real-life team that was expected to go undefeated to state, but suffered a major setback when its star player (Derek Luke) tore his ACL in the first game of the season. Odessa, which like many southern towns was apparently obsessed with its high school team, watched their hopes crumble, but despite hardships the team made it to the state championship anyway.
The truth of the matter is that Friday Night Lights is no different than any other football movie that has been told. The high school teammates all seem to have their fair share of drama in their lives (I sure as hell don''t remember being that dramatic in high school), they have their ups-and-downs during the games, and they finish off their season in the big state championship, facing off against a much larger and nastier team. Still, sports movies do not have to be original - they just have to be entertaining - and Friday Night Lights never really sets itself apart from others in the genre.