MOVING STORY OF THE PRESSURE ON STUDENT ATHLETES

Having grown up in Odessa, Texas and moving back there after law school, I have been closely associated with Permian High School's football team for over 40 years. I "played" junior varsity, sent two children through the school from 1987 to 1995 and have seen 100's of Mojo games.

Ed Williamson and I both wrote reviews of the book upon which this movie is based. Ed and I both went to the movie on its first official day and Ed has already written an excellent review of the film.

I'm a little surprised by the overall rating and small number of ratings on Epinions. Such comments as "boring" and "weak characters" frankly astound me. What the movie is not is another "Hoosiers." It's not the typical "ra-ra, hit 'em in the knee" type of film.

No, "Friday Night Lights" is a very strong character study of a few good young men and the coach that pushes them to succeed. It is not a perfect movie by any means but it analyzes the pressures on student athletes as well as any film I've ever seen.

For time sake, the number of players featured is smaller than in the book. For time sake, the other emphasis of the book on the racism and the lack of Odessa's culture is barely touched on in the movie.

THE CHARACTERS/THE STORY

The five main characters in FNL are so intimately related to the story that it is impossible to separate the two. Those characters are as follows:

Quarterback Mike Winchell. Played by Lucas Black with the proper sensitivity required for this complex character. In real life, Winchell was a gifted athlete who always had nagging doubts about his ability. His father died when he was 13 and his mother had serious health problems. Lucas, as Winchell, almost never smiles. With all the pressure on him to succeed, who can blame him.

Running back Don Billingsley. Played by Garrett Hedlund with the proper amount of anger and playfulness. Billingsley represented the typical player that made Permian famous. Small, white with an unbelievable desire to compete. He had the added pressure of being the son of a former All-State player Charles Billingsley who verbally and physically pushed Don to the point of violence.

Running Back "Boobie" Miles. Played by "Antwon Fisher"'s Derek Luke. Miles was the most gifted athlete on the team. Sure to be a big college recruit, his career was ruined by injury just before his senior year. The pressure of athletics is shown at its worst through Miles' story. He was pressured by his uncle and his own vanity plus the fans to come back too soon after his injury.

Tight End Brian Chavez. Played by Jay Hernandez. Probably the least affected by football, Chavez was the top student in his class and went on to attend Harvard and Texas Tech Law School. Alone among the players, he could put football in perspective although he was a ferocious player on the field.

Linebacker Ivory Christian. Played with stoic silence by Lee Jackson, Christian both hated and loved football. He's called "Preacherman" in the film because that what he did before his senior year. The only player to receive a major college scholarship, Ivory quit TCU after one year.

Coach Gary Gaines. Played by Billy Bob Thornton who I've liked since "Slingblade." This is perhaps the hardest role in the film but then, Thornton is the only "big" name in the cast. Gary Gaines is an excellent coach but he faced amazing pressure to win at Permian. When his first team went 7 wins and 2 losses, not-so-charitable "fans" put "for sale" signs in his yard. This continued each time his team lost. Thornton plays him with a proper balance of the "driven" coach and a man who realizes that there are more important things in life than football.

Director Peter Berg (the cousin of the book's author, Buzz Bissinger) does a masterful job of building the tension from pre-season to the state championship game. While I've heard some complaints about the cinematography, I found that to be one of the strongest aspects of the film. Football game scenes felt as though you were there. Jarring tackles were met with jarring camera action.

The overall message of the movie is that the enormous pressures placed on student athletes in high school may not be worth the price paid on the field. I don't know. After seeing the movie last Friday, Ed and I attended the current Permian team's district opener in Midland against the Bulldogs. Both of us were yelling our heads off with "Mojo" here and "Mojo" there but Permian lost. But most of the fans stayed in the stands and there was no booing. Maybe times have changed for the better.

Personal Complaints

Immediately after the film, I complained to my wife and Ed that there were numerous historical inaccuracies in the movie. Only a Permian fan would notice most of those. I still don't understand why some of the changes were made but I suppose it was "poetic license."

As I wrote earlier, the movie was not perfect but it tells a story that needs to be told and it tells it well.