It's been four years since the movie came into existance, and I had yet to take an initial glance at either this nor the newly created TV series. Sports movies have never really been a big thing for me, not since Remember the Titans anyway. It seemed that every other football movie that has come out since has tried to get the same glory of that aformentioned movie, but to me they always seemed to fall short. Sure, I bet they're still good stories to tell, but the storytelling didn't exactly grasp the authenticity that I was looking for.

I figured Friday Night Lights was another attempt to reach the high school agenda, an MTV experience with the edge to strike into their egotistical values, and in doing so they would rule out any source of characterization and therefore leave me not caring about whether or not the team would win or lose. Yet when I saw the used copies at my local movie stop, I was surprised to see "Best sports movie ever made" written at the top of the case.

But it was a sports movie, none-the-less, and I've seen it all before right? I passed it up.

Some time later I found out that a new character had been added onto the "Origins of Wolverine" cast list. Taylor Kitsch, who would play Gambit, was from the TV Series adaptation of Friday Night Lights, and again this movie had caught my attention as being something worth watching. But since I was more excited about Gambit finally making his movie appearance, I pushed this out of my mind as well.

Next up, I would discover a rising name in the YouTube business, Explosions in the Sky. This quartet hailed from Texas, and the music they used seemed to inspire many people in using their song "Your hand in mine" as background music for their videos. This first happened with Sherwood in their Thank You video, but I would never realize the music would become that big.

I ended up buying them on itunes.
That's when I found out that Your Hand in Mine was on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack.

That's weird...I expected mainstream bands and hiphop to go along with the FNL fame. Or maybe even country, considering Tim Mcgraw was in the film.

That's when I decided to go ahead and pick up the movie...what's 7 dollars going to hurt?

and can I just say, that it's the Best Sports Movie Ever Made!!

Characterization...top notch.
Acting...never better.
Cinematography...loved it.
Music...even better.
Story...WOW!!!

Can I be cliche here?
I laughed...I cried...I got angry...and I ate macaroni.

Crying...minus the tears...
Ahem...

Regardless, I felt the movie a lot. Peter berg did a nice job of moving the story along, while at the same time giving enough depth to the individual characters so that we would cheer for them at the end; and hurt with them as well. Sure, I could be a critic about a few things in the movie, but this was one of those things where I got so into it that I really didn't care for anything else. It was THAT good.

One aspect of the movie I liked, was the sense of unity in the team. This was actually a...well...TEAM!...and they deserved everything they worked so hard for. Billy Bob Thorton was amazing, and his speech at the end about this MAYBE being the last two quarters you play your entire life, really struck home with me. They really captured the essense of what High School Extra-Curricular Activities are all about, and it really sucked that I couldn't experience something like that with my Soccer Team; we weren't exactly much of a team...but I am more than happy with the way my High School Career turned out with Choir and Chorale.

He told those kids to keep each other in their memory, and you could tell that every person on that team had a respect for one another. Now, whether or not this is actually realistic...I can't be too sure...but I'd like to think it's possible on rare occasions.

Even the most egotistical player on the team was able to humble himself when he had to stand down. Sure, he boasted a lot, but he wasn't a man of inaction, and I actually felt sorry for him when he went down a second time on that field. But I guess that's what you get for boasting...still...he was a good player...and the team really respected him...and him his team.

The casting was excellent, and I found Tim Mcgraw's one of the most powerful performances in the movie, and that's not something I expected. I can't get over how compelling the story was, and how everything was driven. Not to mention it was just, flat out, a beautiful looking movie!

This just jumped to one of my favorite movies, something I never expected of a sports flick. It's just too bad that everything else is still cliche and overused...Remember the Titans and Varsity Blues excluded.