Friday Night Lights (2004)

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.

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

Buzz Bissinger (book), David Aaron Cohen (screenplay),

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Derek Luke

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Coach Gary Gaines
Lucas Black	...	Mike Winchell
Garrett Hedlund	...	Don Billingsley
Derek Luke	...	Boobie Miles
Jay Hernandez	...	Brian Chavez
Lee Jackson	...	Ivory Christian
Lee Thompson Young	...	Chris Comer
Tim McGraw	...	Charles Billingsley
Grover Coulson	...	L.V. Miles
Connie Britton	...	Sharon Gaines
Connie Cooper	...	Mrs. Winchell
Kasey Stevens	...	Flippy
Ryanne Duzich	...	Melissa
Amber Heard	...	Maria
Morgan Farris	...	Jennifer Gaines

Storyline

Odessa, Texas, is a small, town in Texas. Racially divided and economically dying, there is one night that gives the town something to live for: Friday Night. The Permian Panthers have a big winning tradition in Texas high school football, led by QB Mike Winchell and superstar tailback Boobie Miles, but all is not well, as Boobie suffers a career-ending injury in the first game of the season. Hope is lost among citizens in Odessa, and for the team, but Coach Gary Gaines, who believes that "Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down", is somehow able to help the team rise up from the ashes and make a huge season comeback. Now on their way to state, the Panthers must go out and be perfect, because they may never matter this much for the rest of their lives.

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Plot Keywords:

texas | coach | odessa texas | championship | small town | 

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Taglines:

Hope comes alive on Friday nights

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic issues, sexual content, language, some teen drinking and rough sports action

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Studios [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Friday Night Lights - Touchdown am Freitag

Filming Locations:

Abilene, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,269,025 (USA) (8 October 2004)

Gross:

$61,188,085 (USA) (24 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Friday Night Lights LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To gather research, producers visited real high school football games in Texas during the fall of 2003.

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Goofs

When Chavez and Billingsly are eating burritos in front of the convenient store and the police officer pulls up, Billingsly's window is up/down/up between shots.

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Quotes

Sharon Gaines: How about Alaska? We could move to Alaska. I bet they're not as serious about their football in Alaska.

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Connections

Version of Friday Night Lights (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Nothin' but a Good Time"
Written by Bret Michaels, C.C. Deville, Rikki Rockett, Bobby Dall
Performed by Poison
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

I played West Texas Football, NCAA, and NFL

I am not a professional movie reviewer. And I did not play for Permian.

I have seen many great high school football movies including Remember the Titans, All The Right Moves, Radio, Varsity Blues and others and there is nothing better than non-fiction. My high school coach made us read this book during summer ball and I can honestly state that this is what West Texas High School Football is all about. No matter what the "Movie Review Nerds" say, this is great story. Watch it, watch it again and buy the DVD for your kids. Teach these values to your kids. Forget about preconceived notions about the actors.

THIS IS WHAT FOOTBALL IS ALL ABOUT!!