Rating: - ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL
I've never been a big fan of sports but I have enjoyed far too many sports films. Some of them I came across quite by accident or due to friend's recommendations. Others I had to see because of where I lived (HOOSIERS was directed by local resident transplanted to LA David Anspaugh). The fact is that while I never enjoyed the sports so much, I always appreciated what it was that was going on. And the movies made about sports have for the most part always turned out well.

But this movie takes things one step further than most. It gets to the heart of the game as well as the downside without using the usual contrivances of most films. Some may appear to be those, but upon closer examination you can find the differences. The big game, the problematic team member, the tough as nails coach. All are here but not quite like you may have seen them before.

Billy Bob Thornton stars as coach Gary Gaines, the coach of the Permian High Panthers from Odessa, TX. The town of Odessa worships the ground that their players walk on. Why? Because there is nothing or little else to do or find in Odessa.

This year the team has the chance to make it all the way, to be the state champs. And all hopes are residing on the shoulders of one player, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), a player who is not only filled with talent but with an ego to match. The team rallies behind Boobie and knows that they are going to win. That is until an injury sidelines Boobie...for good.

Now if the team is to make it, they must work together and work hard to get there. The battle is not one won by an individual, but won by the team. And each and every one works in their own way to get there.

The film offers us glimpses into the lives of the players, but none to the extent that the story becomes each individual's. Instead, it shows their trial and tribulation but keeps coming back to the team and the efforts they make to become winners. Rather than become absorbed in the off the field dramas of each, the film focuses on what goes on ON the field. It is perhaps the best shot look at football on the field that I have seen. It draws you in and places you on the field with the team, rooting for them all the way.

You feel it all in this film. The pressures to perform coming from coach and community, the need to win, the desire to be their best, the confusion of becoming a "star" in the local school and community that is passed on to these gridiron heroes. And right smack in the middle of it all is the heart that beats loud and clear, the heart that shows these youngsters were there not for the fame and glory but because they felt the need within themselves to be their best.

The film is based on the best seller by author H.G.Bissinger and based on the true story. While I am certain an amount of liberties were taken with this book, the soul is very much seen on film. One great extra on the DVD is the inclusion of a look at the players as they are today. The question of what happened to Boobie Miles after his misfortune is answered as are what became of the other teammates involved. The movie is part touching, part sports like violence and part examination of what goes on in the lives of teen sports heroes. But above all else, it is a movie that draws you in and holds you tight until the clock ticks down the final seconds of the game.

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