'Lights' shine on Thornton

At first glance, "Friday Night Lights," a film about a 1988 West Texas football team, could easily have been just another formulaic sports movie in the mold of hits like "Remember the Titans" or "Varsity Blues." All the components are there: an out-of-towner, star football coach, a group of driven but lost young men and a rabid football atmosphere. What serves to separate "Friday Night Lights" from the pack is its gritty, knuckles-to-the-bone depiction of life and football in the middle of nowhere.\nThis middle of nowhere is Odessa, Tex., a small town with an unhealthy high school football obsession. Based on the best-selling book by H.G. Bissinger, "Friday Night Lights" follows the Odessa-Permian Panthers through their 1988 season. Enter Coach Gary Gaines, a soft-spoken outsider making more than the principal to coach at a school whose football stadium is considered a temple. Played by Billy Bob Thornton, Gaines feels the pressure of a town on its toes throughout the entire movie. Much like his character, Thornton handles the pressure of being the production's centerpiece with a reserved grace and nuance increasingly characteristic of his performances. \nWhile the town keeps Coach Gaines in the spotlight, it doesn't fail to shine it on the team's star players either. The story revolves around three of these heavy-headed gladiators: Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), the naturally talented but cocky star running back; Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund), the fullback with an abusive dad (Tim McGraw) and Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), the star quarterback who just wants to get out of Odessa for good.\nThe football sequences in the film look great, but it's off the field where most of the revealing action takes place. Director Peter Berg focuses on the storytelling -- primarily the huge amount of pressure the players feel and how they seem to be the only ones in town remembering that it's only high school football and not worth the excitement. They do eventually get excited about it, but only because it's the easiest way out of West Texas. That's the core of the film's grit. It's about kids coming to the painful realization that this could be the best time of their lives.\nThe special features on the DVD are mostly standard stuff, but there is a pretty interesting documentary which combines shots from the movie, old Permian game footage and interviews from both actors and the real 1988 Permian Panthers. It creates a pretty cohesive look into this true, but all too familiar, tale of high school kids and the people that drive them insane.