Glory on the field of dreams

Yes, it's a movie about American high-school football, but before you turn off completely, it is also about the weight that the sport hangs around the necks of the young bloods who hope for glory but often taste defeat. That burden probably remains with the players for the rest of their lives, defining existences that might otherwise be totally unmemorable.

The high-school team in question is from Odessa, Texas, a miserable-looking part of the world where the only smart thing is the Permian Panthers football stadium. There, like Roman gladiators, the young men do battle to win the Texas League. Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) tells his boys to put each other in their hearts for ever, with the Lord's Prayer as an added makeweight.

Adapted from Buzz Bissinger's book, Friday Night Lights was to have been directed by the late Alan Pakula. But even he couldn't have done much better than Peter Berg, who delivers something that is as much a sociological study as a sports film. Even without understanding what is going on in the cleverly depicted games, I could see what he's trying to say about America and Americans.

But it's not critical enough. It falls, at times, too easily for the patriotic propaganda about honour, courage and obedience to the cause which makes us cynical Britishers squirm. There are too many heroes and not enough flawed characters. But this is not a simplistic tale about sport making the man, and losers winning through sheer effort. And while it may not be, as some have claimed, the best sports movie of all time, it is up there with those more thoughtful, and more skilful, examples.

Friday Night Lights
Cert: cert12A