Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights takes place in dismal Odessa, Texas, where life revolves entirely around high school football and the "winning is everything" philosophy is considered an all-American value. Director Peter Berg (The Rundown) vividly captures this world, from the heat, sagebrush, and oil pumps, to the boorish, pejorative fans calling sports radio shows to Monday-morning quarterback. But the film seems to endorse the fans' willingness to forgive arrogance, misogyny, substance abuse, narrow-mindedness, and bullying in any star athlete who produces results on the field (we're expected to feel sorry for a self-important, overbearing NFL-bound running back when an injury ends his career, and sympathize with the abusive, alcoholic dad of the team's weakest player). To the film's credit, none of this is whitewashed--and neither is the pressure put upon these kids and their stoic, modest, contemplative coach (the perfectly cast Billy Bob Thornton), who seems to be the only levelheaded person in town. Ultimately, while Friday Night Lights' strong sense of culture and tension are admirable, the stage-managed football scenes and lack of characters worth caring about put this one in the loss column. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by director Peter Berg and author Buzz Bissinger, 22 minutes of “action-packed” deleted scenes, the 23-minute featurette “The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers” featuring interviews with members of the real-life team that inspired the movie, the four-minute segment “Peter Berg Discusses a Scene in the Movie,” the four-minute segment “Ryan's Player Cam” featuring costar Ryan Jacobs, the six-minute interview “Tim McGraw: Off the Stage,” cast/filmmaker text bios and filmographies, and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a so-so film.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Jan. 20, 2009—Universal, 118 min., PG-13, $29.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's Friday Night Lights sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by director Peter Berg and author Buzz Bissinger, 22 minutes of deleted scenes, the 23-minute featurette “The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers” featuring interviews with members of the real-life team that inspired the movie, the four-minute segment “Peter Berg Discusses a Scene in the Movie,” the four-minute segment “Ryan's Player Cam” featuring costar Ryan Jacobs, the six-minute interview “Tim McGraw: Off the Stage,” and trailers. New to the Blu-ray release are the “Behind-the-Lights” production featurette (27 min.), a featurette on the “Gridiron Grads,” and the BD Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a excellent-looking Blu-ray debut of a popular sports film that sparked a critically-acclaimed spin-off TV series.]