Had Billy Bob Thornton not been so good in so many films, people would be talking about this as his greatest role.
Comment
07/31/08
Friday Night Lights (2004)
82 %
Reviews Counted: 160 Fresh: 131 Rotten:29 Average Rating: 7.2/10
Consensus:
An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie.
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Theatrical Release: 13-05-2005
Synopsis: From OscarŽ-winning producer Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment and based on the best-selling book about high school football by H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights chronicles the entire 1988 season of the Permian High Panthers of Odessa, Texas, with football players, coaches,... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black
Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriter: Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen
Producer: Brian Grazer
Composer: Explosions in the Sky
Screenwriter: Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen
Producer: Brian Grazer
Composer: Explosions in the Sky
Reviews
Top Critic
The affecting, gruelling result is less a document of recreational sport than one of obligation and ordeal.
06/24/06
Top Critic
The best sports movie for years, as it's not about sport at all. Forget fears of jingoistic grandstanding, this is an un-American all-American tale that deserves attention.
04/01/06
Top Critic
Thornton anchors the film with his understated but no less effective performance but the stand-out is Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) - the scene where he finally realises that his football career is over is truly heartbreaking to watch.
05/14/05
Its script is pure corn, drenched in syrupy sentiment and topped with prize ham in the shape of Billy Bob Thornton's tub-thumping coach.
05/10/05
Top Critic
There's nothing particularly universal or relevant about this place- and sport-specific ode to American football. Although it's a gripping and watchable true story.
04/18/05
Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever.
11/01/07
The script spends at least as much time exploring the psychologies of the young players and the problems they face at home as it does rallying the audience behind their efforts on the field.
04/14/07
A heart-pounding big-screen treatment that captures all the action of a tumultuous season while showing the emotional toll on the players.
03/26/07
While the atmosphere is excellent, and the general elements all strong, the film sadly fails to give any real insight or depth in regards to explaining the hows and whys of the near fever over the game and its players.
10/30/06
You'll leave the theater somewhat emotionally spent -- feeling like you've been tackled by a 220-pound linebacker -- but it's worth the ride. One of the best sports movies ever.
09/22/06
The movie's principles are seriously out of whack, even as it angles toward a Big Life Lesson about learning to live with falling short of greatness.
05/26/06
Friday Night Lights is a film about football, but it shares more in common with films from the horror genre than with its predecessors.
07/25/05
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Around the Network
• Friday Night Lights at Rotten Tomatoes
• Friday Night Lights at IGN
• Friday Night Lights at AskMen
• Friday Night Lights at IGN
• Friday Night Lights at AskMen
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