In "Friday Night Lights," somebody remarks that at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas, there is only one subject: football. In this movie, skillfully directed by Peter Berg, there is really only one character: the Permian Panthers. Reviewed by Kirk Honeycut of the Hollywood Reporter

Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist H.G. Bissinger's 1990 book about a small town's mania for its high school football team, the movie version treats the team as a multifaceted protagonist

The film seldom leaves football fields and locker rooms and only does so to take the emotional temperature of townsfolk whose very lives, hopes and dreams revolve around the fortunes of its young heroes.

Unlike the book, which is of course a work of journalism, you're not going to get too deep into anyone's life in this movie. Berg (who actually is Bissinger's cousin) and his co-writer, David Aaron Cohen, opt for an impressionistic, visceral, fly-on-the-wall accounting of a single season played in 1988. Enthusiasts of the book may be disappointed at the loss of individual stories and the biting indictment of the town's unhealthy obsession with a sport. But enough sports fans and men will be drawn to this movie to ensure a winning season at the boxoffice.

In essence, the film is about a secular religion. In Odessa, a city in decline in the West Texas desert, folks turn Friday night football at Ratliff Stadium -- the largest high school football field in the nation -- into a shrine. Winning is all that matters, and expectations ride heavily on the shoulders of teenage boys whose experiences on the gridiron will forever define them in the eyes of themselves and others.

The film catches this religious fervor in brief moments and images: A mother drills her quarterback son from his playbook while he eats. A sign in the locker room reads: "Whatever it takes." Exhaustion appears in the eyes of coach Gary Gaines (a measured, intelligent performance by Billy Bob Thornton) when rabid fans talk of winning as if it were a birthright.

The film lets you get caught up in the excitement of this religion and the addictive nature of those stadium lights. Berg and cinematographer Tobias Schliessler get up close to the action, catching the hits and miscues in all their violent urgency. In fact, much of the picture is shot in close-ups as the camera hovers and darts to catch the looks in people's faces, sometimes determined, sometimes pleading, other times frightened.

The film gradually opens the door a crack into the lives of several players. Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), the quick and powerful running back around whom coach Gaines has built his offense, seriously injures his knee on opening night, then faces the dilemma of letting it heal properly or returning to the field as fast as possible. Mike Winchell (Lucas Black) is a solid quarterback, but self-doubt nags at him along with worry over his chronically ill mom.

Tailback Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) comes under tremendous pressure not only because of his fumbles but verbal abuse by his father (a smashing acting debut by recording star Tim McGraw), a former star player for the Panthers. The film just barely portrays Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez), a tight end smart enough to earn a scholarship without his athletic skills, and Chris Comer (Lee Thompson Young), a third-string running back who gets his shot when Boobie is injured.

The dominating character is Thornton's coach, whose front lawn sprouts "for sale" signs when the team loses. He can get very angry but never loses control of his emotions or his team. You sense an inner core of calmness to which he can retreat when external pressures become too much.

The state championship game played in the Houston Astrodome provides a blood-quickening climax that won't let you to exhale for several minutes. The filmmakers bravely portray the all-black Dallas team, the opponent of the multiracial Panthers, as a mean-spirited and dirty bunch more than willing to coerce the lone black referee into making an egregious call late in the game.

The rhythms of David Rosenbloom and Colby Parker Jr.'s editing work at fever pitch to mirror the intensity of the gridiron battles. Sharon Seymour's design points up the lame ordinariness of the insides of the few homes the film enters. The film emphasizes the otherwise dull nature of Odessa by bleaching out much color for daytime scenes in contrast to the brightness created by those Friday night lights.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Universal Pictures
Universal and Imagine Entertainment present a Brian Grazer production

Credits:
Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriters: David Aaron Cohen, Peter Berg
Based on the book by: H.G. Bissinger
Producer: Brian Grazer
Executive producers: James Whitaker, John Cameron
Director of photography: Tobias Schliessler
Production designer: Sharon Seymour
Music: Explosions in the Sky
Co-producers: Robert Graf, Sarah Aubrey
Costumes: Susan Matheson
Editors: David Rosenbloom, Colby Parker Jr.

Cast:
Coach Gaines: Billy Bob Thornton
Mike: Lucas Black
Don: Garrett Hedlund
Boobie: Derek Luke
Brian: Jay Hernandez
Ivory: Lee Jackson
Chris: Lee Thompson Young
Charles Billingsley: Tim McGraw
L.V. Miles: Grover Coulson
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time -- 117 minutes