In Quest Of The Perfect Season

High school football fans all over the United States often dream of the perfect season. My high school was fortunate to have one of those in the years I was there. The perfect season for Coach Gary Gaines, though, was more than just a dream; it was an expectation. Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) was in his second season at the helm of one of the most celebrated football programs in the state of Texas, at Permian High School in Odessa. They had won four championships, starting in 1965. The movie "Friday Night Lights" takes a look at the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, the key personalities on the team, and the obstacles they face during the season.

The expectations are there from the first day of practice, as family, friends and media gather to take their first look at the squad. The star player of the team is their fast, brash halfback Boobie Miles (Derek Luke). He vows nobody's going to stop him on his way to the end zone. At the other end of the spectrum on the offense is quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), who has the weight of the world on him. Not only is it on him to get the ball to Boobie, but he always wants to be there for his ailing mother (Connie Cooper). Similar to Mike on the defensive side is Ivory Christian (Lee Jackson), the quiet, but intense linebacker who's the heart of the defense. Another standout on defense is safety Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez), whose ticket out of Odessa has not been determined by athletics, but by academics. All is not well, though, among the players, as fullback Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) is prone to fumbling. At that opening practice, Don's father, Charles (Tim McGraw), witnesses a fumble, charges the field, and openly abuses his son before he is restrained.

The season begins with an easy win. Late in that game, though, Boobie is kept in the game when a backup misplaces his helmet. On a play designed to run out the clock, Boobie tears his anterior cruciate ligament. Coach Gaines is told, but the news is kept from Boobie, his uncle L.V. (Grover Coulson), who's Boobie's legal guardian, and the team. The news they hear is that Boobie will be out for a few weeks. Boobie and L.V. travel to another town for a second opinion which confirms what the Permian team doctor has already said. Permian loses the second game without their star, as the hopes of a perfect year end in a rout. In the third game, Chris Comer (Lee Thompson Young), the halfback who started the season third on the depth chart, shows he can play well when he has his helmet. Permian wins all but one of the remaining games, and make it into the playoffs by the luck of a coin toss ceremony. Other issues arise as the team makes its way to the championship match to face an undefeated team from Dallas Carter High School.

"Friday Night Lights," which is based on the book by H.G. Bissinger, is an absorbing look at one town's obsession with their high school gridiron warriors. Director and co-writer Peter Berg (who's a cousin of Bissinger) paints a vivid portrait of football fever in blue-collar Odessa. Berg shows us signs in front of homes that proudly display that a Permian player lives there. Not only do the Odessa residents believe in their Panthers, but they also believe in mojo, and they want their mojo to work on every opponent. Come football season, these teenagers are the center of Odessa's universe. One restaurant owner lets them eat for free after the games. Others ask the boys if they're going to win state. Many of the adults, including Charles, wear their championship rings from their days at Permian. After a loss, Gary and his wife Sharon (Connie Britton) come home to find "For Sale" signs in their yard. Winning in Odessa isn't just a team effort. The town insists on being a part of it, too.

Berg not only brings a sense of fun to the football, but he also brings a sense of tension. A lot of that tension can be seen in the faces of Mike and Coach Gaines. The tension doesn't only apply to their success on Friday evenings. The tensions are also racial, as Coach Gaines and the Dallas Carter coach, who fields an all-black team, debate where they should play. A questionable call in the game doesn't help ease these tensions. The tensions sometimes explode, such as the scene where Boobie doesn't want to believe that his season is over, in spite of the prognosis from a specialist. The biggest sequence of tension, though, comes during the long coin toss sequence. There's no music, no background noise - just the talk of sudden death elimination. Gaines is not only the last to look at his coin, but there's confusion over the heads or tails call of one of the other coins. The excitement becomes just as palpable at the end of that sequence, as well as in game sequences.

The actors show off plenty of character in uniformly strong performances. Thornton threads the line between discipline and compassion as Coach Gaines. When Boobie is injured, he shows his concern for his star, but he also has to make sure the injury is not a disruption. He, unlike most of the adults, understands that his players are just boys, and knows that a condescending voice from him is the last thing they need. Luke is the most dynamic as Boobie, turning his focus from a football stud to cheerleader who comes to accept that his injury is serious. Black is quietly effective as Mike, a player who, much like his coach, doesn't openly show much emotion. In one scene, Mike makes Boobie work very hard to get a smile, but finally gets one when he does a Bill Cosby impression for Mike. Also of note is McGraw as Charles, the drunk, abusive, father who still wishes every Friday were game day for him, and wishes Don would live up to his football legacy.

Win or lose, I always enjoyed the experience of taking in a Friday night football game, though I'll admit I always preferred winning to losing. Friday nights at Permian High are, for the citizens of Odessa, Texas, a rite nearly as important as attending Sunday church services. "Friday Night Lights" takes a look at the highs and lows of a season where nothing but winning will suffice. Game time is the best thing that happens to some Odessa residents all week. The movie is critical, sympathetic, and exciting - sometimes all at once. "Friday Night Lights" is a most convincing chronicle of a season of a proud football program. It shows that a lot of hard work goes into any pleasure derived form a night at the gridiron. Many of them still need to translate that sense of joy to the rest of the week.