Friday Night Lights (2004)

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Directed by
Peter Berg

Written by
Buzz Bissinger, David Aaron Cohen

Cast
Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez [more]

Friday Night Lights Reviews

Friday Night Lights is bound to receive criticism about not having many aspirations, story-wise, but I would call its unconventional look at a “great sports story” more ambitious than most other movies in its genre. In addition, it does what it sets out to do superbly, and that speaks volumes, in my book. I will prefer an ambitious and efficient film to one that is ridiculously complex and only half-successful, ninety-nine out of a hundred times. Friday Night Lights is a perfect example of this. [read review]  --Danny Baldwin (BucketReviews.com) A solid football movie. Sure, you don't have to love the sport to appreciate the story at hand, the characters intertwined or the message that the film ultimately sends out, but let's be honest here...if you're a football fan, this movie will definitely appeal more to you! [read review] 7/10 --'JoBlo' (JoBlo.com) It is structured very matter-of-factly with a surprisingly loose narrative. Scenes are piled on top of each other like quotes in a newspaper story, time passes very flippantly, and there is little regard for eloquent transition. This all works to the film’s advantage by allowing the movie to simply tell its story without taking sides or making blanket statements. [read review]  --Luke Pyzik (eFilmCritic.com) ‘Friday Night Lights’ no doubt is well-made. Peter Berg gives the film a stylishly appropriate look and feel, the performances are genuine, and the film continually plays with viewers’ expectations. Unfortunately, it’s rather severe depiction of the depths of human nature and how some people stake their lives on the success and failure of sports teams makes it more of a niche film than a blockbuster. [read review]  --Joe Rickey (Movie-Gurus.com) Unlike most films that come down to the final play against the invincible foe that absolutely require the emotional satisfaction of an underdog victory, Friday Night Lights emotionally involves viewers even more because we simply don't know what the final scene will bring. It can have multiple endings and still work well within the narrative because the film really lives out the metaphor realistically, just like Life. [read review]  --John Nesbit (CultureDose.net) Still, it’s an engaging sports film, and definitely should be seen by football fans in particular for the look at the game and what it means to small-town America. I’ve heard the book is richer and more in-depth, considered one of the best sports storiesever written, so you may also want to put that on your must-read list if you like what you see here [read review]  --Vince Leo (Qwipster.net) Everything falls together for Friday Night Lights, causing it to be a far more moving film than one might expect. Some solid performances, excellent editing, and a daring music choice makes it stand out compared towards stereotypical sports dramas. [read review] 8/10 --Aaron West (Movie-Vault.com) "Friday" is filled with plenty of bone-crushing, helmet-crashing action, but it's the exhilarating scenes of the final game that more than make up for Berg's tendency to oversentimentalize the characters' personal dilemmas. [read review] --Robert Dominguez (New York Daily News) Friday Night Lights is being hailed by some critics as the best sports movie ever made. While I think that is hyperbole, Berg's picture is certainly an above average effort that provides a solid emotional punch. [read review]  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews) HIGH school football is a religion in some parts of the country, and “Friday Night Lights” — despite another expert performance by Billy Bob Thornton — is for the most part content to preach to the converted. [read review]  --Lou Lumenick (New York Post) Friday Night Lights is a football movie, but it's not about winning a trophy. It looks at the sport as a culture: as an ingrained part of the American landscape, and the triumphs and damage that entails. [read review] B --Rob Vaux (Flipsidemovies.com) Everything is dealt with on a superficial level, as if questioning fanatical devotion to sports were tantamount to telling someone their religion is a sham. Which, if you think about it, it probably is. [read review]  --Loey Lockerby (eFilmCritic.com) "Friday Night Lights" tells an engrossing story with such conviction and honesty, embedded in a surplus of stylistic flourishes, that it becomes one of the best sports movies in recent memory. [read review] A- --Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com) Friday Night Lights treats its subjects with respect by not flinching when confronting the harsh reality that they are given little choice but to create for themselves. [read review]  --Erik Childress (eFilmCritic.com) Billy Bob Thornton, as the coach of a small-town high school football team, scores a few points, but this smug little film drops the ball at every turn. [read review] --Charles Taylor (Salon) We really begin to care about these characters, and what's even more striking is that their story becomes a powerful and heart-wrenching piece of work. [read review] A- --Craig Younkin (Lee's Movie Info) FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is not about winning (a notion that distracts many sports movies), but brotherhood, forgiveness, and the human spirit. [read review]  --Laura Kyle (eFilmCritic.com) The only other movie that has done this sort of thing artfully-Hoosiers-did it better, but Friday Night Lights is in the same league. [read review]  --Rick Kisonak (MovieWeb)

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