Friday Night Lights (2004)
87%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: NA
An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie
Friday Night Lights is the perfect movie for anyone who loves football, or just loves a good underdog story. With Billy Bob Thornton as the coach, you’ll be cheering on the team even if you don’t know the first thing about the game. And if you’re not a fan of sports movies, don’t worry – this one is so much more than that. It’s a powerful look at the impact of sports on a small town, and the emotional toll it takes on the players. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a heart-pounding ride!
Production Company(ies)
Dream Works Animation, Mad Hatter Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment,
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.78 : 1
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Runtime:1h 57m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 8, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 18, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Tim McGraw, directed by Peter Berg, written by Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen, Buzz Bissinger, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Nell Minow, David Ansen, Andrea Gronvall, Ben Walters, Ian Nathan, Neil Smith, Leigh Paatsch, Eddie Harrison, Lorrie Moore, Megan Basham, PG-13, rough sports action, language, sexual content, some teen drinking, thematic issues, produced by Brian Grazer, Universal Pictures, football, high school, Texas, Boobie Miles, Gary Gaines, Mike Winchell, Charles Billingsley, Brian Chavez, Don Billingsley, Coach Gary Gaines, injured, social problems, self-respect, honor, emotional toll, sports fever, state championship, football sequences, hard-hitting, soundtrack, solid, strong characters, fantastic performances, rousing drama
Worldwide gross: $61,950,770
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $61,255,921
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Derek Luke – Boobie Miles
Jay Hernandez – Brian Chavez
Lucas Black – Mike Winchell
Garrett Hedlund – Don Billingsley
Tim McGraw – Charles Billingsley
Director(s)
Peter Berg
Writer(s)
Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen, Buzz Bissinger
Producer(s)
Brian Grazer
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (173) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (141) | Rotten (32)
So much more than a football movie.
December 24, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever.
November 1, 2007
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
A heart-pounding big-screen treatment that captures all the action of a tumultuous season while showing the emotional toll on the players.
March 26, 2007
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The affecting, gruelling result is less a document of recreational sport than one of obligation and ordeal.
June 24, 2006
Ben Walters
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The best sports movie for years, as it’s not about sport at all. Forget fears of jingoistic grandstanding, this is an un-American all-American tale that deserves attention.
April 1, 2006 | Rating: 5/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Its script is pure corn, drenched in syrupy sentiment and topped with prize ham in the shape of Billy Bob Thornton’s tub-thumping coach.
May 10, 2005 | Rating: 2/5
Neil Smith
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
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.
July 24, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
With Billy Bob Thornton’s garrulous Coach Gary Gaines masterminding every play, you’ll get caught up in the action even if you can’t tell your ‘first-and-down’ from your ‘time-out.’
April 24, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Eddie Harrison
The List
It is reminiscent of a war movie…the football impact scenes are brutal and the sound editors have the volume on high for each wince-inducing hit, underscoring the disposability of the boys…
November 5, 2018
Lorrie Moore
The New York Review of Books
Every performance in Friday Night Lights rings true.
February 6, 2018
Megan Basham
National Review
It succeeds best as a sadly iconic portrayal of America’s love affair with Texas high school football.
June 3, 2016 | Rating: B
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
What Friday Night Lights offers is the perspective that, for the people and young players caught up in this whirlwind, football simultaneously means everything and ultimately nothing.
October 30, 2009 | Rating: 7/10
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies…
Plot
In the small town of Dillon, Texas, one night matters: Friday Night. Eric Taylor has recently been hired as the head football coach for the Dillon High School Panthers, the town’s pride and joy. Friday Night Lights displays the stress that the town gives the high school players to win, and the hope that the team gives to a small town, and how a team has its low points, its high points, and how they come together as a team on their way to victory.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy, funny, or odd comment about the film Friday Night Lights on Fresh Kernels.
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