Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights is a truly great non-blockbuster film! It is the story of a small town Texas High School football team and its new coach. Whether or not small town life in east Texas is actually like this or not, the viewer feels this is what it must be like. The whole town shuts when the football team is playing. There is pressure on the 17 year olds to make as much as possible as they can out of their one year of fame, as there is nothing there for the rest of their lives but small town Texas.

The coach, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is a serene character under huge pressure from a school looking to regain its winning past, with the whole town commenting on performances good and bad, on the local radio. My favourite comment is when the team have not done so well and one caller suggests the kids are being taught too much.

A cracker of a sports film, and you don't have to understand American Football to enjoy and comprehend the human drama that is played out through the games.

10 stars. Buy it.