Friday Night Lights,
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Plot
Bissinger followed the team for the entire 1988 season, which culminated in a loss in the State semi-finals against Carter High School from Dallas, who eventually went on to win the championship game but would have their title stripped for playing an ineligible player. However, the book also deals with — or alludes to — a number of secondary political and social issues existing in Odessa, all of which share ties to the Permian Panthers football team. These include socioeconomic disparity; racism; segregation (and desegregation); and poverty.
The coach, Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton), is constantly on the hot seat. Tied into the successes and failure of the coach and the team in general are the conflicts the players struggle with on and off the gridiron. The coach overuses his star player, running back James "Boobie" Miles (Derek Luke), who gets seriously injured (Miles tore his ACL, missed the playoffs, and had a limp for the rest of his life). When this happens, sports radios are flooded with calls for his resignation. Miles' once-arrogant attitude vanishes as he sees his once promising chance of playing big-time college football disappear and starts to question his future after he notices his not-so promising academic standing. Quarterback Mike Winchell (Lucas Black) struggles with being able to play consistently, and his inability to make decisions for himself. Fullback Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) has a rocky relationship with his father (Tim McGraw), who won a state championship at Permian and carries on a feud with his son for not performing on the level he'd like to see, despite the fact that Don doesn't do anything to light his father's temper. Third-string running back Chris Comer (Lee Thompson Young), who takes the spot of Miles after his injury, attempts to get rid of his fear of being hit and getting injured, especially when the player who last occupied his spot suffered a season ending injury. His obsession with fame and recognition also comes at a high price that he is at first not ready to play. Safety Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez) is easily the smartest player on the team, and the most confident in his future after high school football. One of the themes of the movie depicts the coach as a father-type figure for the players.
Coach Gaines triumphs and struggles with winning football games and connecting with his players a number of times during their tremulous season. His job depends on the Panthers making the playoffs, and his team is in a three-way tie with two other teams at the end of the regular season. Under Texas rules for ties, the tiebreaker is a coin-toss. In an effort to prevent a riot, the location of the coin-toss is kept under wraps. Permian gets a spot. They make it to the finals, where they narrowly lose against a powerhouse Dallas high school team.The movie ends with the coach removing the departing seniors from the depth chart on his wall. Notably, the depth chart has "Case" at quarterback. This refers to Permian's real-life backup quarterback in 1988, Stoney Case, who would go on to lead Permian, along with Chris Comer, to the 5A state title the following year, and still later made it to the NFL. The final scene consists of Winchell throwing a football to a bunch of pee-wees playing pick-up football before leaving with Billingsley and Chavez.
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines
Lucas Black as Mike Winchell
Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley
Derek Luke as James "Boobie" Miles
Jay Hernandez as Brian Chavez
Lee Jackson III as Ivory Christian
Lee Thompson Young as Chris Comer
Tim McGraw as Charles Billingsley
Connie Britton as Sharon Gaines
Amber Heard as Maria
Julius Tennon as Coach Freddie James
Differences between the movie and actual events
Players
Many players names and numbers were featured in the movie. Some of these were real and some were false. Brian Chavez's number was actually 85, and Boobie Miles' number was actually 35. However, player's numbers such as Wide Receiver Michael Aguirre's number 15 were correct. Other differences included where the Panthers lost and won games or where the games were actually played.
In the movie James "Boobie" Miles is depicted as one of the team's three captains with Don Billingsly replacing him after Miles' injury, but that honor was held by Ivory Christian, Mike Winchell and Brian Chavez.
In the movie some of the players' numbers and positions were changed: Boobie Miles in the movie is #45 and playing tailback, but in the book he is #35 and playing fullback with #26 Don Billingsley at tailback (Note: At the beginning of the film, as the camera pans over Coach Gaines' depth chart, you can see the name 'Miles' listed under the FB tag, but at the end when Gaines removes graduating seniors from the depth chart, you see Billingsly listed at FB). In the movie, Brian Chavez is #4 and plays strong safety, while he was actually the #85 tight end and defensive end. Ivory Christian, in the film, is a defensive end and wears #90, while he was really the #62 middle ("Mike") linebacker. Chris Comer was also the backup fullback in the book, not a third-string tailback. One of the athletic directors in the stadium booth also mentions "I think he's a Sophomore," when Comer was really a Junior in real life. Comer also wore #45 in the real season, but in the movie he wears #42. Also, Alan Wyles is depicted as a starting wide receiver, but in reality he was a placekicker who is listed on the roster as a wide receiver.
Don Billingsley's father Charlie is depicted in the movie as having won a state championship. In reality, his Permian team lost in the state finals.
[edit]Regular season
In the movie the team is depicted as practicing in full pads and with full contact on the first day of practice. Under rules of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body for Texas public-school sports, teams cannot use pads or hit until the 4th day of practice.
A Permian booster is heard toasting Coach Gaines' second season as Permian's head coach. It was actually his third.
Boobie Miles, in the book, injured his leg by getting his foot caught on AstroTurf during a pre-season scrimmage against Amarillo Palo Duro at Jones Stadium in Lubbock. In the movie he is tackled by two players at the knee during a blowout non-district game at Ratliff Stadium.
In the movie, the top-ranked Permian Panthers defeated the hapless Marshall Bulldogs in a non-district game, the game is the season opener, and played on a Friday night in Odessa. In real life, the third-ranked Marshall Mavericks (whose colors are red and white, not purple and gold) defeated fourth-ranked Permian 13–12, and was Permian's second game of the season, and played at Maverick Stadium in Marshall on a Saturday afternoon.
In the movie, district play began in week 2. In the real regular season, district play would have begun in week 4.
In the movie, Permian defeats "North Shore Galena" in a mid-season (presumably district) game. In reality, North Shore High School is located in Galena Park, a suburb of Houston, over 500 miles (800 km) southeast of Odessa. Although North Shore and Permian have both been 5A football powerhouses, they have never played.
In reality, the three teams tied for best district record were Permian, Midland Lee, and Midland High, all with 5–1 district records. In the movie, Permian and Lee are joined not by Midland but by Abilene Cooper, and each team has two district losses.
In a few scenes, players are shown wearing Under Armour-branded apparel and Riddell Revolution helmets, when in 1988, Under Armour and Revolution helmets hadn't been invented yet (future Under Armour founder Kevin Plank was a high school football player in 1988).
At one point in the movie, the camera flashes to the scoreboard where you can see that Bank of America was the sponsor, later on in the movie, you see the same scoreboard with Nations Bank as the sponsor. However in 1988-89, the bank name was actually North Carolina National Bank. The name changed to Nations Bank in 1991 and then to Bank of America 5 years later.
[edit]The playoffs
Permian's first opponent in the playoffs was Amarillo Tascosa (31–7) and not Dallas Jesuit as in the movie. In fact, in 1988 Texas public schools (such as Permian, Carter, and Amarillo High) and private schools (such as Jesuit) competed in separate leagues with separate playoffs. Jesuit was not allowed to join the previously all-public school UIL until 2003, starting football competition in 2004. Permian did play Dallas Jesuit in Odessa during the regular season in 1988, winning 48–2.
When the Panthers play Nimitz High School, they are wearing the same jerseys and colors as Cooper High School. In real life, Nimitz's colors are Blue and Silver
Carter is depicted playing Hays High School in the playoffs. Hays High is depicted as wearing green and white and nicknamed the Rams. The real Jack C. Hays High School, located 15 minutes south of Austin in Buda, instead uses red, white, and blue as its colors, and its nickname is Rebels. Hays was a Class 4A school in 1988 and did not become 5A until 2000. Hays was in the movie because the makers filmed crowd shots at Hays High during a Rebels home game against the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, another team depicted as being a Permian playoff victim.
In the movie, Permian plays Amarillo High School in the semifinals. Amarillo is depicted wearing blue and white, while their actual colors are black and gold. The uniforms in the movie for Amarillo are actually those of Lubbock Monterey High School.
Permian was also depicted as playing “San Angelo” in the quarterfinal round. There are actually two high schools in the San Angelo Independent School District; San Angelo Central High School (the district's only 5A school) did not play Permian in the 1988 playoffs.
Permian vs. Carter
Since 1982, the UIL Class 5A football playoffs have had six rounds (though a second, parallel playoff bracket of five rounds was added in 1990, later also expanded to six rounds in 2006), so while Permian did play Dallas Carter in the fifth round, in reality it was a semi-final and not a final. The actual final featured Carter versus Converse Judson.
The Carter-Permian game was played in front of 10,000 people in a heavy downpour at The University of Texas at Austin's Memorial Stadium, not in front of 55,000 in the Astrodome in Houston.
While the game in the movie was a high-scoring affair (34–28), the score of the actual game was 14–9 in favor of Carter. In real life Permian held a 9–7 lead for most of the game and it was Carter who made the dramatic fourth quarter comeback to win.
On the last play of the game, Winchell threw an incomplete ball tipped by Carter player and later NFL-Pro Bowler Jessie Armstead, rather than running it himself close to the goal line.
In the movie, one of the announcers in the game says "Winchell can see on the big clock down in the end zone he's got one minute and forty seconds left," but in the book it is very explicitly stated Winchell did not look at the clock because his nerves could not take it. Although the movie never says Winchell checked how much time he had left, it is implied that he looked at the clock.
Many people in Dallas were highly upset at how the Dallas Carter coach was portrayed as villainous. The actual coach, Freddie James, was highly respected and considered a Dallas legend. The movie version of the book depicted the Carter team as unsportsmanlike and arrogant. The game was played without incident and without any confrontation between either team.
The school and the city
Ratliff Stadium is depicted as the location for Permian football practices. In reality, the team mostly practices on campus, and the stadium (which is not only used by Permian, but also by the city's other large public high school, Odessa High) is on the outskirts of town about three miles (five km) away from the Permian High campus. The area around the stadium has grown dramatically since then (which caused an anachronism in the movie — the houses you see near the stadium weren't there at the time).
Also, while Ratliff Stadium has had artificial turf since its opening, in 1988 it had the original AstroTurf, not the modern FieldTurf surface seen on the stadium in the film.
Cameo roles
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams (a Permian alumnus) has a cameo in the movie, ironically, as an assistant coach for Midland Lee (Permian's arch-rival).
Denver Broncos cornerback Ty Law plays a wide receiver for Dallas Carter, the team Permian plays in the movie's state championship game (as noted earlier, the real Permian-Carter game was a semifinal). He wears jersey #2, his last name is Graf, and he eventually catches a one-handed touchdown pass.
The real James "Boobie" Miles plays a Permian assistant coach in the film. Although he has no lines, he is seen several times. In the locker room scene at halftime of the state championship game, he is seen standing next to the fictional "Boobie" Miles as Coach Gaines gives his speech.
Friday Night Lights (soundtrack)
The soundtrack for the film predominantly features post-rock band Explosions in the Sky. Music by Daniel Lanois and rock band Bad Company are also included. The pump up song that is featured as the team runs through the tunnel in the game against Dallas Carter is "New Noise" by the seminal Swedish punk band Refused. Also, during the start of the third quarter during the Championship game, the song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges is used.
Critical reception
Reviews of the film were highly positive. The film received an 82% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 164 reviews, and a score of 70/100 on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews.
(Source:wikipedia)
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