Friday Night Lights

2004
PG-13
1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

68K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:26

Docudrama Football Action Drama Sport

Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

68K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,807

373

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations

Trivia
The real James "Boobie" Miles can be seen standing next to Derek Luke (playing "Boobie" Miles) several times throughout the film. He is wearing a black Permian jacket and hat.

Goofs
When departing Odessa for the game in the Houston Astrodome, the coach tells a player that "we have a six hour ride" when in reality it would take at least eight to nine hours to drive the 500 miles from Odessa to Houston.

Quotes
Coach Gary Gaines: 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 didnt let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasnt 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!

Connections
Edited into Friday Night Lights: Deleted Scenes (2007)

Soundtracks
Terminator X to the Edge of Panic
Written by Chuck D (as Carlton Ridenhour), Terminator X (as Norman Rodgers), Flavor Flav (as William Drayton)
Performed by Public Enemy
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews312

Review

Featured review

Not as good as the book.

I just don't see how anyone who didn't read the book could follow the story at all. The book was so watered down, and the story is almost unrecognizable. We saw precious little of Booby Miles' complexity or the pressures around him over which he had no control. We saw almost nothing of Chavez, one of the very few players who actually made something of himself, or what effect the high school football experience had on his success in life. And the other players ... their personal lives were so affected by what happened that single season, and it was pretty much ignored. There was so much background about the frenzy that Mojo generated (and still generates) in Odessa that just wasn't shown.

That being said, I can see why the people in Odessa so disapproved of the book and loved the movie. The movie doesn't show the rather affectionate, yet unflattering picture that Buzz Bissinger painted of the town. Instead, it only showed the stereotypical hype of small town football. After seeing the movie, PLEASE do yourself a favor and read the book.