A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

HOPE STAYS ALIVE ON SATURDAY NIGHT: H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights is an undisputed classic of sports journalism. It's been a couple of years since I read it last, but as someone who grew up in Texas and who's been on the sidelines of numerous high school football games, it's a book I can strongly recommend. That said, I was a bit afraid of what might happen with the film adaptation that arrived in theatres. The book is (in my view) a somewhat scathing indictment of the athletic system and the obsession with it in Odessa, and I was afraid it might turn into a cut-rate version of Remember The Titans ("Remember the Mojo?").

Fortunately, my fears were abated with the film, which is gripping (if dramatically simplified from the book). While Billy Bob Thornton is the lead of the film, he has a total of one long inspirational speech rather than many, and that one is well-written and well-delivered (to the extent I can judge it, since someone decided to chit-chat on their cell phone in the theatre during the speech). The young actors (mostly unknown) playing the members of the team are all solid, and Peter Berg brings a surprisingly gutsy approach to the film.

For football fans and fans of the book, this is a must-see.