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Friday Night Lights

Play trailer Poster for Friday Night Lights PG-13,  2004,  1h 57m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Stream Now Watchlist 82% 171 Reviews Tomatometer 85% 100,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
82% Tomatometer 171 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.
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Friday Night Lights

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Friday Night Lights

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Critics Consensus

An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Dec 24, 2010
4/5
So much more than a football movie. Go to Full Review
David Ansen Newsweek Nov 1, 2007
Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever. Go to Full Review
Andrea Gronvall Chicago Reader Mar 26, 2007
A heart-pounding big-screen treatment that captures all the action of a tumultuous season while showing the emotional toll on the players. Go to Full Review
John Stark Mac the Movie Guy May 12, 2026
78/100
It’s not just about the big game, it’s about what happens when the lights dim after. If you haven’t seen it in a while, it is worth a rewatch. Go to Full Review
James Croot The Post NZ Dec 8, 2023
Friday Night Lights still remains one of the most entertaining and engrossing sports movies of the past two decades. Go to Full Review
Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) Jul 24, 2020
4/5
The game sequences do stand out, but this refreshingly no-frills affair also finds time to question the value of the win-at-all-costs ethos rife in modern sport. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Han M Feb 14, 2019 Most accurate sports film in regards to emotion and intensity i have seen.
Feb 1, 2019 The best sports movie ever made!
Hermione R Dec 26, 2018 A classic sports movie. The acting isn't great, but not terrible. The story is pretty generic as football movies go, with decent character development. It is always great seeing Texas football on the big screen. See more
Ron G May 15, 2018 Arguably an alarming look at how intense America takes high school football, 'Friday Night Lights' balances some intense on-field action with a dramatic storyline while capturing the culture of high school football where the young men carry the weight of their small town on their backs. See more
Albus G May 14, 2018 Strengths: Like the show that came after it, the film is shot beautifully. Peter Berg just gets how to handle football on a screen. Every game is shot to perfection. It focuses on what it needs to and does so with the breakneck pace and sharp cuts that come with the game of football. The story manages to be inspiring and uplifting, but also heartbreaking at times. It does a pretty good job balancing the large cast of characters and makes you feel for each of them. Nearly every character gets some kind of arc and grows from beginning to end. If we're looking for standout performances, they come from Billy Bob Thornton (Coach Gary Gaines), Garrett Hedlund (Don Billingsley), and Derek Luke (Boobie Miles). Thornton gets to give one of the best sports speeches in film history, while Hedlund has a tough, layered character, and Luke carries an emotional story for a character who goes from unlikable to sympathetic. The final game is fantastically set up, with many ups and downs that tug at your emotions. Weaknesses: The movie is ripe with clichés. It's as if the filmmakers wanted to take every trope you see in a sports story and cram it into this. From the injured top star causing the resilient backup to take his place to the arrogant star to the player having an abusive father to the championship game involving a major comeback. It also felt like some people were underutilized. For example, Connie Britton (Sharon Gaines) plays the coach's wife and barely gets screen time. As we saw on the FNL show, she's a fantastic actress who could've been a key part of some big scenes if properly used. Overall: There are a few things that prevent it from being among the very elite in sports movies, but it's damn close. Friday Night Lights is a masterfully shot film that portrays the relationship between a coach and his team very well. There's a lot of emotional punches throughout, making it the kind of roller coaster you want to experience in your sports movie. See more
Theodore S Apr 19, 2018 A good movie but extremely strange. To have the best moment of your existence at 17 then you became old, the glories of your life already in the past. I'm reminded of those great opening lines from The Lover: "Very early in my life it was too late. At eighteen it was already too late. I aged." Freaking sad movie! See more
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Friday Night Lights

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Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Coach Gaines on Being Perfect Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Coach Gaines on Being Perfect 2:58 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Goes Down Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Goes Down 2:41 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - You're Gonna Seriously Fly, Son Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - You're Gonna Seriously Fly, Son 2:26 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Cleans Out His Locker Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Cleans Out His Locker 3:00 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Ivory's Pep Talk Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Ivory's Pep Talk 0:56 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie's MRI Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie's MRI 2:48 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Creepy Boosters Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Creepy Boosters 1:38 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Duct Tape for Don Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Duct Tape for Don 1:58 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Agony of Defeat Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Agony of Defeat 2:58 Now Playing Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Get Off the Field, Dad Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Get Off the Field, Dad 1:33 Now Playing View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.
Director
Peter Berg
Screenwriter
Buzz Bissinger, David Aaron Cohen
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Imagine Entertainment
Rating
PG-13 (Rough Sports Action|Language|Sexual Content|Some Teen Drinking|Thematic Issues)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$61.2M
Runtime
1h 57m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
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