A compelling and stirring film.
Friday Night Lights (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:162
Fresh:132
Rotten:30
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 [See Full Rating] for thematic issues, sexual content, language, some teen drinking and rough sports action
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Genre: Dramas
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... 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, mothers, fathers, pastors, boosters, fans and families struggling with ongoing personal conflicts while the team fights for a state championship. A town for sale, Odessa, Texas has seen better days--the financial bust evident in its boarded-up shops and broken lives. Yet one hope sustains the community where, once a week during the fall, the town and its dreams come alive beneath the dazzling and disorienting Friday night lights...when the Permian High Panthers take to the field. In a city where economic uncertainty has eroded the spirit of its inhabitants, nearly everyone seeks comfort in the religion of the Friday night ritual, where the unfulfilled dreams of an entire community are shifted onto the shoulder pads of a team of high-school athletes. Friday Night Lights captures the frenzy of a small town that reveres its school team and their weekly games. With Odessa standing in for places just like it all across America, the film provides an illuminating look at the hoped-for successes and the built-in failures of trying to live the American Dream through the efforts of a group of talented young men. The film is produced by Academy AwardŽ winner Brian Grazer, directed by Peter Berg (The Rundown, Very Bad Things) and adapted from Bissinger's book by Berg and David Aaron Cohen (The Devil's Own). -- © Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Lee Thompson Young, Lee Jackson
Director: Peter Berg
Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriter: Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen
Producer: Brian Grazer
Composer: Explosions in the Sky
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for Friday Night Lights
The arcs of the characters have the persuasive authenticity of real life, as do the dramatic mechanics of the big-game finale.
An exciting and involving sports drama that more than does justice to the cliches it presents as 'a true story.'
The film doesn't completely gloss over the rough stuff and remains, for the most part, true to the text.
A stand-up example of how effective underdog sports movies are, no matter how many times you've seen this kind of thing before.
Friday Night Lights captures this aspect of team spirit with honesty and passion.
Friday Night Lights is the best [football movie] I've seen, and I'm hard-pressed to think of another film about sports -- any sport -- that surpasses it.
Friday Night Lights bursts through the line of those beefy sports cliches, only to switch uniforms and join them.
Contains just the right mix of grunting, cheerleading and backbiting, of failure and success, of broken dreams and great expectations.
Given [the editing and jittery camera work], it's hard to know exactly how to feel about the film. Fortunately, the story is just compelling enough, its performances convincing enough, to help.
Does a terrific job of exposing the pressure, intensity and, yes, near-insanity of high-school football in the West Texas town of Odessa.
Latest News for Friday Night Lights
August 08, 2008:
Play Ball With RT's Top Sports Movies!
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December 23, 2007:
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Score another one for the rumor mill: Peter Berg has been confirmed as the director of a new Dune. More...
October 16, 2007:
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A few weeks ago, we discussed a CHUD report about Frank Herbert's Dune possibly heading back to the big screen. Now, according to Ain't It Cool News, some of the details... More...
June 05, 2007:
Scott Porter Signs On for a "Speed Racer" Role
Fans of TV's "Friday Night Lights" may be familiar with actor Scott Porter. Movie fans will see him in next year's "Speed Racer" adaptation. More...
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