HTF Review - Friday Night Lights (1 Viewer)

[dave bula]

Although one person did mention it already, I have to say that as I was reading the first part of the review that described what the film was about, I couldn't help thinking I was reading about the film Varsity Blues. How does it compare? Varsity Blues was obviously trying to be two things at once, a silly ribald teen comedy, as well as a serious drama with Jon Voight in the role of the coach. So is Friday Night Lights essentially the same film, just minus the silly comedy?

 

[JoshB]

Varsity Blues cannot even come close to Friday Night Lights in any way, I believe. The acting, for one is so much better, and is much more believeable with the absence of WB like actors who pretty up the screen and try to make use of limited material. To me, Blues was too distracting to watch these actors try and be serious. Voight was too over the top in the role and not very believeable, and the entire film had a predictable quality to it, and I found many scenes to be unbelievable and ridiculous (the sex ed teacher for one, as well as just about every other female character). To me, it was nothing more than an attempt to market the supposed next "IT" actors for teen comedies, and it didnt succeed in my mind. I could say more, but why bother. It succeeds more as a weak teen comedy against the backdrop of Texas high school football (a bad choice movie to use for that scenario) than a compelling sports drama, and in my mind could have hurt Night's chances for success with audiences, but as it turns out that didn't happen.

Friday Night Lights, besides being based on a book and true story, is much more believeable in every aspect, from the football games (well choreographed and filmed IMO, with no over use of loud annoying music or Michael Bay style editing) to the emotional turmoil the players go through from the teammates, coaches, and families. The acting is surprisingly good, especially Billy Bob Thornton and several others who play the younger football players. There is more of a grittiness to this film, with no over the top antics or scene stealing behavior, and it I found it to be compelling and not very cliched at all. The cinematography for one I found to be excellent with a documentary like style to it.

Varsity Blues is about the obsession with football in a Texas town, but is no where near the level that Friday Night Lights is at. Friday Night Light's is right up there among the best of football and sport movies, and I highly recommend it.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Varsity Blues filmmakers had read Friday Night Lights and tried to essentially do their own MTV version of the book but Varsity Blues doesn't have the authenticity or breadth or filmmaking skill that the Friday Night Lights film does. I get a lot of things out of watching Friday Night Lights. When I watch Varsity Blues, the message I come away with is "God damn you, you old people. Leave our teen idols alone!"

 

[David Galindo]

Wow...I dont think Ive ever read a review like this one:

http://www.dvdtown.com/review/friday...en/14094/2629/

Quote from review:
"As I pointed out earlier about people like this in my youth, had people like Boodie (sic) treated me nicer when I was a young lad, I might have actually felt sympathy for him, but instead, I laughed (kind of like the laugh that Nelson does on “The Simpsons”). "

Um...yeah.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Geez, that's a bitter dude. I often relate personal info/perspectives in my reviews as well, but this guy goes too far - the review was more an exorcism of his angst than a look at the movie. And it's hard to trust a review that can't get the name of a major character correct - and also that misses the presence of an audio commentary when it discusses supplements...

 

[Dane Marvin]

^ Colin: Since the fact that there is an audio commentary is not even listed on the packaging, we can probably just assume he didn't even bother with the extra features and simply copied them from a list. Hell, he probably didn't even bother watching the whole movie.

And having been the first to bring up "Varsity Blues", I didn't mean to say that these two films were even in the same ballpark. It's just pretty obvious to me that the people who wrote "Varsity Blues" had obviously read "FNL" and decided to dumb it down and make it a teen comedy with some attempts at a dramatic moment every now and again. The key difference between "Varsity Blues" and "FNL" is this: the former is a movie, the latter a film.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Since he couldn't get a major character's name correct, you may be right. He certainly doesn't offer much insight into the extras.

Hmm... I checked the review again and noticed he didn't mention a BUNCH of extras. In fact, he only discusses the items listed on the box! That definitely supports your thought that he just copied the liner notes and pretended to watch them. God, I HATE reviewers like that - they give the rest of us a bad name! And DVD Town is usually a good site - this is really upsetting...

 

[todbnla]

Luv the fil but did anyone notice a few times when it looked like the action stopped such as when a layer change occurs? I noticed it once and then it happened a few times more, was their more than one layer change in this film?

 

[David Galindo]

Since I havent seen Varsity Blues but loved FNL, would it be worth my time to check out VB?

BTW, I only got one layer change that I could remember, Todd. It happened pretty early in the film.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Let me start by saying that while I actually kind of enjoy Varsity Blues, it is no Friday Night Lights. I think it is probably worth a look just to see the contrast with which they both deal with the theme of the importance of High School Football in Texas. Blues is FNL if FNL was supposed to be trying to be funny and if it were made by MTV.

 

[Dane Marvin]

What Casey said. If for no other reason than your present location on planet earth, David, it's worth a look. You'll see two vastly different ways to approach the same subject.

 

[David Galindo]

Hah, ok. I got lots of other movies to check out, but Ill add VB to the list. Thanks!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

And Ali Larter covered in whipped cream.

I went to BB last night with a friend of mine and I picked up this film as a blind buy. I usually get burned by doing this (The Village), but I really felt safe this time because I hadn't heard a single bad thing about the film, gladly, the film was outstanding, and i'm not the biggest football fan in the world either.

I can't even concieve being a kid in the situation's that the kids in this film are in! My goodness, the pressure! At one point in the film someone can be heard over the radio, I think after they lost that first game, saying something like "I guess they're doing too much teaching in that school." As if learning came secondary to football.

Even though that line may have never been uttered in real life (or maybe it was, I don't know), I fear that it may have at least crossed the minds of the folks in that town, given how much they got into the sport. The game of football was damn near bordering on an unhealthy obsession in that town.

I don't want to get hung up on the psychology of the town at that time, I just want to say that I realy loved the film. The scene with Boobie in the car with his uncle really hurt me to watch, it was so real, and even though I didn't have all the love in the world for the jocks at my high school, at that brief moment I felt what the game may have meant to some of them.

I was also relieved to see that most of the kids ended up alright in their chosen professions after that year.

In closing, the film ranks right up their with films such as Rudy, Hoosiers, Any Given Sunday and The Natural. Give it a try, even if your not a fan of football, the beauty of this film is your not required to be.

BTW, I got the dvd with the book and will give it a read also when I get time.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

John, I agree with your post especially the part about how even non-Football fans should give this movie a look.

I thought the line was: "I guess they're doing too much learning at that school." but learning teaching, it doesn't matter to me that was the line of the film because it summed everything up in one sentence.

For me the Boobie Miles stuff is awful compelling and then to listen to the real Boobie Miles discuss what happened in the featurette on the real Permian Panthers just hammered it home all that much more.

 

[David Galindo]

Jeez, as if the review at DVDTown wasnt bad enough-

http://www.dvdtown.com/readercomment...een/14094/4188

From DVDTown (about the review of FNL, and the lack of extras listings):
If you want to read DVD reviews that are more concerned with extras than with movies, then you are more than welcome to go elsewhere rather than act like a jerk here.

Extras are the intregal part of a DVD!! Why are they being so ignorant? Ahhh!
I just took them of my favorites list...too bad, since they are a fantastic site most of the time.

 

[Steve K.H.]

The transfer is less than stellar... no reason to avoid a purchase but for such a great sports film, it is deserving of better.

Really a great sports film with numerous important messages for coaches, young athletes, parents of young athletes, and any sport fan. Billy Bob Thornton did an admirable job... he surprised me here.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

For me, the film is the most important part of the DVD, extras are just that...extra, I'd have bought this barebones.

However, that review really didn't talk about the movie either so much as the reviewer sneaking in bitterness over his own real life experiences so the comments in that reply are a little, or a lot off base.