Barnes & Noble

In the small Texas town of Odessa, high school football isn’t just a game -- it’s the yardstick by which many residents measure their self-worth and significance. That’s the lesson learned by early by new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), who endures criticism, taunts, and even threats from parents and other townspeople obsessed with seeing their team compete in the state finals. His players include the supremely talented but willful Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), an egomaniac prepared to sacrifice his health for gridiron glory, and Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund), a hardworking receiver who endures the bullying of his foul-mouthed father (country music star Tim McGraw in a bang-up performance). Actor-turned-director Peter Berg (The Rundown), who co-scripted with David Aaron Cohen, keeps his star firmly grounded in the role of a sensible man caught up in a high-pressure situation. Coach Gaines is someone who believes that football, while perhaps a good character builder, is essentially just a game -- an attitude that puts him at odds with Odessans who, sadly, have invested far too much of their self-esteem in the team and its fortunes. In some respects, Friday Night Lights is a typical sports movie, with familiar character types and a predictable narrative that relies for its third-act climax on the Big Game. But it’s done with style and perception, portraying small-town hopes and fears with unusual fidelity. Absent a leading man like Thornton, this film might be the sort of run-of-the-mill TV movie you can find any night on cable. But Thornton’s performance is well-nigh perfect, maintaining a consistency of tone and intensity that makes his Coach Gaines an unforgettable figure: a small-town man with a big heart. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

H.G. Bissinger's best-selling true-life account of a few months in the life of a high-school football team comes to the screen in this adaptation written and directed by Peter Berg. Odessa, TX, is an oil town in the western part of the state that's home to the Permian High School Panthers, the football team with the best winning record in the state. Odessa is a town with more than its share of problems; the decline of the oil business in Texas has set the city's economy into a tailspin, and racial tensions still erupt into violence on occasion. But football is the one thing that brings all the people of Odessa together, and on Friday nights every fall, as many as 20,000 people fill Permian's football stadium to watch Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) and his boys try to lead the team to victory. As Gaines works to build a winning team in a town where victory is prized above all else, however, his players struggle through the emotional trials common to any teenager and ponder the fact that there is little future in their hometown...and that a championship season can be as much a burden as a triumph. Friday Night Lights also stars Lucas Black, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, and country singer-turned-actor Tim McGraw. Mark Deming

Chicago Tribune

Peter Berg's beautifully executed film takes us from preseason to the playoffs, awing us with hard-hitting, bone-cracking high school games -- games you will watch as though you've been rooting for the Panthers your entire life. The movie is that good. Allison Benedikt

USA Today

One of the best football movies ever, Nights in the end celebrates the game. Mike Clark

Product Details

• UPC: 025195055604
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English, Español, Français
• Subtitles: English, Español, Français
• Time: 1:58:00
• Sales Rank: 24,479

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Champions Collection

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