My novice review of Friday Night Lights

[3afan]

First some advice - you will enjoy the film much more if you forget everything you know about what really happened in 1988 and keep in mind they were not trying to recreate what really happened historically. Having sad that ....

It was okay IMO. Not great but okay. The football scenes were good. Billy Bob Thorton was tremendous. If you are a Texas HS football fan its worth the ~$6.50.

Told you it was a novice review ...

[mwynn05]

it just came out today and you have already seen it. and you said you were going to wait until it came outon dvd lol

[3afan2K3]

It was ok

[3afan]

yes i did say that - real nice of you to recall

but i had an opportunity to go out to lunch w/ my wife & kid & see it so i did. and it certainly beats all the other crap that in the theater .....

[District303aPastPlayer]

my class got cancelled, and i went to see it. I had read alot of the things that were printed. . . so i felt tainted. but the movie's story was great. after the movie, a couple of us just stood around and talked football. Great great experience. I loved the movie though. Great story

[texasjeremy]

Yeah, very very little in the movie was historically accurate. Even small stuff that wasn't thrown in their for entertainment value wasn't accurate. It appears they did a poor job researching for the movie.

[LST_Terry]

Since the director is the cousin of the author of the book I do not think it was about research. Every book made into a movie is changed around. they wanted a feel good story so they shaped it that way.

Peter Berg the director even said they changed some things because they were just to sad to end the movie with the truth

[3afan]

Originally posted by texasjeremy
Yeah, very very little in the movie was historically accurate. Even small stuff that wasn't thrown in their for entertainment value wasn't accurate. It appears they did a poor job researching for the movie.

thats my point - they were not TRYING to make it historically accurate. i dont think they did a poor job researching for the movie - for the most part they just DIDN'T because a re-enactment of the 1988 season was not the intent

[Keith7]

The difference between the movie and the book is obvious..

The book is about a Town that is crazy about their football team

And the Movie is about a Football team that has a crazy town...

A few things made me mad when i went and saw it

1. It made Texans look like real hillbillys
2. It did not address some of the issues in the book, such as Racism in the town of odessa and how it affected the team
3. It did not even show the game between their cross town rivals that was an entire chapter in the book..
4. Everytime someone in the movie said "Get IT done".. Half the crowd felt like they needed to say "Get'er done" (God i hate that saying, I dont even know why people consider it funny)
5. Ivory Cristian, In the book they talk about how he dominates his opponents and how strong he is (he held the record in bench press at Permian), but in the movie he is often ran over and dominated by his opponents..
6. Don Billingsly's Dad, I would be pissed if i were Don Billingsly's dad in real life.. In the Book they breifly talk about how his dad was an alcoholic and how it showed, but they also said that he was not an alcoholic and never once mentioned any child abuse...
7. There was no Watermelon feed, another big part of the book
8. There are more I just cant think of them right now

[texasjeremy]

If they wanted to make a movie that was based very loosly on Friday Night Lights, they should have made up a town and not called the movie friday night lights. It was the little stuff that was glaring at me, the fact they didn't research very well, it didn't look like the producer knew much about Texas HS Football. Things like Permian playing Dallas Jesuit in the playoffs, Jesuit just joined the UIL this year, definitly not in 1988. Also, did you notice that Permian played Galena Park North Shore in the movie in a district game. It was stuff like that that got me. If you aren't from texas and not a HS football fan, it was probably a good movie, but for us diehard Texans it could have been so much better. This story is a better than fiction classic and it was butchered.

[3afan]

you guys don't get it -- it was a movie based on the book. it wasnt a documentary. it was a movie with the intent of making the producers $$$ !!!

gawd !!!!

[Keith7]

Originally posted by 3afan
you guys don't get it -- it was a movie based on the book. it wasnt a documentary. it was a movie with the intent of making the producers $$$ !!!

gawd !!!!

well then change the name of it

[texasjeremy]

Originally posted by 3afan
you guys don't get it -- it was a movie based on the book. it wasnt a documentary. it was a movie with the intent of making the producers $$$ !!!

gawd !!!!

No, you just don't get it. Its the little things that got me, things that had no impact whatsoever on the movie, stuff that the casual moviegoer would not catch, but to the football people it appears like out of state people that knew little about Texas HS football made the movie.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Keith7
well then change the name of it
Sorry, no can do. I don't have that kind of pull.

[3afan]

hey, believe me - i saw more inaccuracies in the movie than you - i've been a HS football fan since the mid 70s ..... but dont you think if the intent was to recreate 100% everything from 1988 then they would have done so? do you think they were stupid enuf to make things so different - not wrong - and think no one would notice? it was not a documentary ....

[big daddy russ]

That movie gave me goosebumps. For two hours I forgot that I was a HS football nerd and just enjoyed the movie for what it was, a movie. Great buildup and character development. It was slow, but worth it in the end.

The Yanks are always going to think we're hillbillies... I've stopped caring... they can think that if it makes them feel smarter. But the movie made me feel like I was back in the huddle, and that was definitely worth the $4 (early matinee) that I spent to see it.

[Keith7]

It didnt have to be a documentery to change the things that i didnt like about it

[texasjeremy]

You saw more inaccuracies than me? I probably saw at least 15-20, and that was only on the football part, nothing about what was going on with the town and players.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by texasjeremy
You saw more inaccuracies than me? I probably saw at least 15-20, and that was only on the football part, nothing about what was going on with the town and players.

maybe you would be interested in a couple of threads i started last week

http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20344
http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20345

[texasjeremy]

One good thing about it, was that it showed Dallas Carter for the way they really were (and are).

[3afan]

whatever ......

[Old Cardinal]

I don't go to a lot of movies but I did see this one. Forgetting about the inaccurate movie line, it shows a lot about how Texas towns view football. I think the movie shows the pride generated by football and also the fanaticism that consumes some people. I have seen many of the personalities displayed in this movie at local football towns through the years. I think the movie gets the point across that it is trying to make. It's just a movie-- not a glamour movie about Permian HS.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by Old Cardinal
I don' go to a lot of movies but I did see this one. Forgeting about the inaccurate movie line it, shows a lot about how Texas towns view football. I think the movie shows the pride generated by football and also the faniticism that consumes some people. I have seen many of the personalities displayed in this movie at local football towns through the years. I think the movie gets the point across that it is trying to make. It's just a movie not a glamour movie about Permian HS.

the book is not a glamour book about permian H.S. in fact i could careless about Permian H.S. but it did not show how much the town really loved it football, such as the Peppettes, or the watermelon feed, or any pep rally... those are the things that High School Fans can really relate to

[jason]

i just saw the movie, and i thought it was pretty good (i havent been to the theatre since 'gothika' was there cause nothing interested me, and this movie got me there)...if you know nothing about what happened in '88 (like myself) then its a good movie with a somewhat suspenseful ending...i did think it did a great job of shedding some light on how serious some towns take their high school football...

overall: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[LHMom]

I didn't see it yet, but I have heard reviews from quite a few that have... It seems a divided audience. From those still playing high school ball, they thought it was a good movie, but didn't quite live up to the hype. For recent graduates (1-3 years), it was awesome - but very emotional for them.

I'm looking forward to it - with or without the inaccuracies. I ready the book 10 years ago, so I probably won't pick up on all of them. I just want to enjoy some Friday Night Lights on a day that LH isn't playing!

[Flourhead]

i still liked Varsity Blues better as a movie because of the comedy in it but the state championship game in Friday Night Lights was the most awesome thing ive seen since wharton vs cuero...2003 and 2004

[Hawk Fan Izzy]

To begin with, put away your knowledge of the book and the real life situation that the movie relates to. This was not meant to be a documentary, but rather, a movie about what football meant to a small town, what football is to Texas.

It's a movie of social analysis. Many scripts had been written before, and they played too much off the sub-theme of racism, power, etc. The main theme of the novel and the movie is football and its relation to the world off the field.

If you did not understand that, then you are a hillbilly.

[3afan]

hillbilly !?!?!?!

hehe ...... :thumbsup:

[sinton66]

Anybody up for a reintarnation?:D

[G.A.T.A 2008]

Originally posted by Keith7
The difference between the <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=movie&v=56">movie</a> and the book is obvious..

The book is about a Town that is crazy about their <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=football&v=56">football</a> team

And the <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=Movie&v=56">Movie</a> is about a <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=Football&v=56">Football</a> team that has a crazy town...

A few things made me mad when i went and saw it

1. It made Texans look like real hillbillys
2. It did not address some of the issues in the book, such as Racism in the town of odessa and how it affected the team
3. It did not even show the game between their cross town rivals that was an entire chapter in the book..
4. Everytime someone in the <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=movie&v=56">movie</a> said "Get IT done".. Half the crowd felt like they needed to say "Get'er done" (God i hate that saying, I dont even know why <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people&v=56">people</a> consider it funny)
5. Ivory Cristian, In the book they talk about how he dominates his opponents and how strong he is (he held the record in bench press at Permian), but in the <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=movie&v=56">movie</a> he is often ran over and dominated by his opponents..
6. Don Billingsly's Dad, I would be pissed if i were Don Billingsly's dad in real life.. In the Book they breifly talk about how his dad was an alcoholic and how it showed, but they also said that he was not an alcoholic and never once mentioned any child abuse...
7. There was no Watermelon feed, another big part of the book
8. There are more I just cant think of them right now


Do you know that the Permain-Carter was played at UT in Austin NOT at the Astrodome

[Keith7]

Originally posted by G.A.T.A 2008
Do you know that the Permain-Carter was played at UT in Austin NOT at the Astrodome

yes

maybe you would be interested in a couple of threads i started last week

http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20344
http://bbs.3adownlow.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20345



and by the way.. i noticed links in the quote that you provided that are not normally in the post i orignally made.. I think you have become a victom of some major adware and you should look into gettin that fix..

[Bull's-eye]

Did anybody notice the "Field Turf"? or the Dodge Durango? Sorry, both of them were not around in 1988. :doh:

[downlower]

I noticed that as well, I noticed a lot of things in the movie that were not around in 1988.

[MASH4077]

Did ya happen to notice that every tackle was as though the tackler was launched off of a trampoline? geez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AggieJohn]

.

[BullFrog Dad]

Some of this thread's critics are forgetting one thing, this movie is released nationwide. Most of the Texas viewers as well as near 100% of the non-Texas patrons could care less about where a game is played or against whom. The thing that really matters is that the movie is produced/directed to draw the maximum people to the theaters. The person in Topeka, Kansas' six or seven bucks counts the same as the moviegoer in Monahans.

[Sinton94]

I enjoyed the movie as well.:p

[Keith7]

Originally posted by BullFrog Dad
Some of this thread's critics are forgetting one thing, this movie is released nationwide. Most of the Texas viewers as well as near 100% of the non-Texas patrons could care less about where a game is played or against whom. The thing that really matters is that the movie is produced/directed to draw the maximum people to the theaters. The person in Topeka, Kansas' six or seven bucks counts the same as the moviegoer in Monahans.

all the people out here in california were saying it sucked at the end of hte movie because they couldnt believe they would make a movie about a team that loses

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by Keith7
all the people out here in california were saying it sucked at the end of hte movie because they couldnt believe they would make a movie about a team that loses

I used to live in Cali myself....what do they know??

Every movie doesn't have a "warm and fuzzy" ending - ie: Message in a Bottle!

[Keith7]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
I used to live in Cali myself....what do they know??

Every movie doesn't have a "warm and fuzzy" ending - ie: Message in a Bottle!


ewwwwwwww a chick flick

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by Keith7
ewwwwwwww a chick flick

LOL...that is was!! But I absolutely HATED the ending!!

[AggieJohn]

the movie was great except for the sexual innuendo