Friday Night Lights

Grade: B+

Premise: A season-in-the-life of a football-obsessed Texas town.

DH here posting a "guest review" with permission from The Fetching Mrs. D, or T.F.M.D. (not original, I know). My wife writes the cute reviews. I'm the film snob/wannabe/frustrated screenwriter so you can imagine how shocked I was to actually like this movie. Like Mikey... I don't like anything.

Friday Night Lights isn't quite the best sports movie around (see Hoosiers or possibly Miracle), but it is easily the best football movie, and not a bad flick in general. In fact, after promising T.F.M.D. that I would save it and watch it together, I watched it without her -- that was, as Arnold would say, a "Big Mistake."

I regretted that decision in more ways than one, but mostly because it turned out to be a sports movie that even chicks would enjoy. Much like the aforementioned Hoosiers and Miracle, Friday Night Lights has heart and strong performances throughout. I'm a big fan of Lucas Black from Sling Blade and was thrilled when he popped up here, re-teamed with Billy Bob Thornton. It's not fair to single Black out, though, as all the young actors (the leads) gave convincing performances. The score was simple, even a bit unusual, and suited the images fine.

As for the direction... well, Peter Berg directed The Rundown and managed to put the best parts of that movie in the trailer, but inexplicably cut them from the finished film. In Friday Night Lights, all seems to be intact (sorry, didn't get a chance to watch the deleted scenes). I will, however, complain about a serious problem found in both of his films that creeps its way into far too many movies and TV series these days: I'm referring to what is sometimes called, "Bulls&%* Shaky-cam". There are a lot of directors out there to emulate but, financial success aside, Michael Bay isn't one of them. And there's such a thing as a wide shot. For the love of all things good and decent -- zoom out!

So, there's my first review. Not as nice. Certainly not as short. For those fond of T.F.M.D.'s reviews, come back soon. I'm sure when she gets a gander at this I won't be allowed near a keyboard for awhile.

Recommend?: You bet. Never need to see it again. Certainly don't need to own it. But it's worth a watch once, and not just when nothing else is on.