By DAVID MURIMI

Staff Writer

The movie "Friday Night Lights" is about a small town with a big heart for football. By the end of the film, the audience will feel like a citizen of Odessa, Texas.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist H.G. Bissinger's 1990 book about an ever-so-familiar look at the craziness of small towns and high school football, this movie shows in great detail the dreams of playing football and how the sport affects some people years after playing. The film lets you see the reality of football in every hit.

When comparing the movie to other great sports films, "Rudy," starring Sean Astin, comes to mind.

The audience gets a peek at some of the characters' lives, like Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Coach Gary Gaines. Thornton puts on an excellent performance when the pressure to win is on his back just as much as the players.

Derek Luke, who also starred in "Antwone Fisher," plays the cocky Boobie Miles, the star running back, and Lucas Black, who starred with Thornton in 1977 in "Sling Blade," plays Mike Winchell, the quarterback for the Panthers. The characters make the audience feel the pain of living up to everyone's expectations.

Another character who makes his debut on the film and who stands out in the movie was country singer Tim McGraw. McGraw plays the abusive father to one of the players. The audience barely recognizes him in this movie because of his realistic portrayal of a demanding father who still basks in the limelight from his football days as a Panther.

The last game in the film is Permian High Panthers against the Dallas team.

You see the realistic racial tensions as the coaches decide where to have the game and which referees will be used.

While the scene of the town, homes and locker room feel darker and dull, the night lights that surround the field shine down and show how alive the town gets during the games.

For a lot of the players, football is their only way out of the small town. To make a mistake on the field is to make a mistake in life. The audience is able to see the players slowly shed childhood innocence and deal with pressure more adult-like than they should grasp.

This movie is not just for former high school football players, dads and sons, but also for people who know very little about football and want to know what it means to be a teen athlete.

Taking from the select words of Coach Gaines in the film, this movie is "perfect."