MOVIE - FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - Review Rating $$$$$ $$$ (OUT OF 10)

STARRING - Billy Bob Thornton (Coach Gaines), Lucas Black (Mike Winchell), Garrett Hedlund (Don Billingsley), Derek Luke (Boobie Miles), Jay Hernandez (Brian Chavez), Lee Jackson (Ivory Christian), Lee Thompson Young (Chris Comer), Tim McGraw (Charles Billingsley) & Grover Coulson (L.V. Miles).

DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER - Peter Berg

Football (U.S. style) has been described as "war by other means". In Friday Night Lights the analogy is expanded to make high school football synonymous with our entire lives. It's a postulation worthy of consideration by both fans of the game and those who think a zebra is just an animal.

The true strength of Friday Night Lights is that, for the most part, it presents the hypothesis without reaching a conclusion for the viewer. In the process the movie presents a realistic view of the remoteness of future stardom. Glory may be achieved but it will most likely be short-lived and come at a significant cost.

The scariest aspect of Friday Night Lights is the suggestion that success must be achieved on the high school gridiron because it may be your one and only chance to be a hero before the responsibilities of adulthood wear you down. The film asks the question whether the best years of our lives are already behind us or whether we need to redefine those activities that should be glorified

This, and other questions poised by Friday Night Lights, make it a movie worth seeing for sport fans and non-fans alike.

Running time - 117 minutes

Alternative Reviews:

Roger Ebert's Review

Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

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