Best movie of this year hands down!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Powerful

I always had a soft spot for sport movies. I felt this movie was exceptional. In a small town inside of Texas, high school football is the most important event. When the Permian High Panthers loses its main star Boobie Miles, all hope is lost. It is up to newly appointed coach Gary Gaines to flare that hope again. The movie was shot in documentary-style. Similar to a reality show. It gives a realistic feel to the movie which helped the movie a lot. It distinguished itself from the other sport movies. It brings us closer to the team.What I loved the most in this movie is the sense of importance they brought to the football match. Everyone lived their everyday lives in the poor town without passion. Drinking beers, driving trucks, working in a gas station. But when it comes to the football match, It lights up their excitement like a firecracker. It seems as if the football match was their only source of happiness. They acknowledge this as well as the players. The seniors were doing their final year as a football player. They know they weren't good enough to go pro, and surely they weren't smart enough nor rich enough to pursue higher education. This was as good as it gets. That was why every match felt very exciting and heartbreaking to watch.

No shock that when Bissinger's incredible book of the same name came out, residents of Odessa were none too pleased with what they read. It painted Odessa as a very backwards and overtly racist town. Countless examples and incidents revealed a Texas town still stuck in the Jim Crow days of years passed, inspired only by high school football victories. High school football was the main theme of the book, but the racism found in the community was right there with it. Enter Peter Berg, who wished to make a film about high school football, in particular, he wants to make this book into a movie. The community of Odessa made it clear, no way. Berg would not be allowed to use Permian images or Permian facilities. Berg pleads with the Odessa district to let him make the film, he pledges that he will remove all of the racist elements in the book that made Odessa look bad. In fact, Berg went one step further, he decided he would deal with the prejudice angle, by using African Americans as the example of the bigotry. The black coaches of the all-black Dallas Carter team that faces Permian in the championship game complain bitterly about the initial lack of black referees, implying they want to stack the deck for the black team. During the game, the black refs wink and smile at the black players as they taunt, cheap shot, showboat and play dirty. A black referee blatantly cheats on a call in favor of Dallas Carter. It is incredible! This is when you realize, this horrible excuse for a movie had nothing to do with the actual book it was based. It is very difficult for me to tell anyone that they should watch a movie, when the story being told, completely distorts the truth of what that film was supposedly based on.

It was difficult to watch this movie as I am a big fan (along with many, many others) of the TV show that was based on this movie (and the book on which it was based). However, if you can leave behind your love for the fantastic casting of Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler as Tammy and Coach Taylor, you will also love this movie for the same reasons you loved the TV show. The depth of the character portrayals are as rich as those developed in the TV show, and the dialog rings as true there as here. And who does not love an underdog sports story."Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn't one more thing you could've done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman - you're perfect!"Or as the TV show condensed this speech: "Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose."The movie is not perfect, but it is darn close.For more of my movie reviews, please visit:https://nomorewastedmovienights.wordpress.com

It's tough to compete against movies in a similar genre (Rudy, Varsity Blues, Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday, etc), however I strongly believe that this movie is set apart from some of it's predecessors.In a time where cities and towns alike view high school football as a religion, the story revolves mainly on 5 football players and their coach. Peter Berg depicts the story, based on the book by H.G Bissinger, of the high school football 1988 season of the Odessa, Texas Panthers. The underlying focus is undeniable: a constant pressure from an entire town to be the best at any cost; whatever it takes. But at what price? Berg paints his beautifully cinematic vision of the triumphs, downfalls and a memorable ending that has you cheering for the Permian Panthers and swaying in empathy to the pulsing guitar riffs of Explosions in the Sky.To my surprise it had every level of greatness: from a stellar break out cast- marking the beginning of Tim McGraw's and Garrett Hedlund's acting career. To a very favorable and impassioned speech by "Preacher" (Lee Jordan). Preacher, whose quiet demeanor is set ablaze in an effort to push his teammates onward. An excellent sound track (courtesy of Explosions in the Sky) that gives every scene an emotion, further than one could expect, where the you can see McGraw's character flourish as he strives with his inner demons to find a balance between teaching his son "how to be a man" but realizing he found his own way through the season. Most importantly it has a very compelling story line; it's not your "typical -happy-ending-for-the-team" movie. And that is indeed why I love it so much - you feel for the character's lives and how much they are affected by their decisions, each gaining something or suffering a loss.Lastly my two cents: every coach should take note; even though they attempt to sweep it under the rug, do not revolve every play after one player. The outcome may not be worth it.As someone who isn't too fond of football, but plays rugby- I can truthfully admit from the first time I saw this movie, I was hooked. For a sports movie, it has everything I look for in a great film.In short: a film to be crowned a classic sports movie.